Insurance payouts for the recent earthquakes in and around Kumamoto Prefecture reached ¥123.4 billion ($1.13 billion) as of Monday, becoming the second-largest after the ¥1.27 trillion paid out for the 2011 Tohoku disasters, an industry body said Wednesday.
The payments for the Kumamoto quakes surpassed the previous second-largest figure of ¥78.3 billion disbursed after the Great Hanshin Earthquake that hit Kobe in 1995, the General Insurance Association of Japan said.
The sum is expected to balloon further as the latest figure covers only around half of the 84,422 claims.
Two massive quakes struck Kumamoto and nearby prefectures in quick succession in mid-April, resulting in 49 deaths.