Tokyo: Earthquake insurance benefits paid by nonlife insurers over the Jan. 1 Noto Peninsula quake totaled 20.5 billion yen as of the end of January, the General Insurance Association of Japan said Thursday.

This was the ninth-largest amount of earthquake insurance payouts in Japan. Benefit payments linked to the 7.6-magnitude temblor in the peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture, central Japan, are seen rising further.

According to the industry group, there were 76,497 requests for investigations into the damage to buildings and household goods. Benefit payments were completed in 25,246 of the cases.

By prefecture, quake insurance benefit payments reached about 8 billion yen in Ishikawa, 6.4 billion yen in Toyama and 5.2 billion yen in Niigata.

JIJI Press