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Hawaii Shaken by Strong Earthquake

An earthquake measuring around 6.6 on the Richter Scale hit the big Island of Hawaii on Sunday, causing power loss and millions of dollars in damage to buildings in the area. There were no apparent casualties due to the quake, which was followed by several strong aftershocks - some of a magnitude of 5.8 on the Richter Scale. Governor Linda Lingle has issued a disaster declaration, activating the state`s National Guard to help. Conveniently for Gov. Lingle, the National Guard was in the midst of maneuvers as part of a state-wide drill when the earthquake occurred.

Geologists were quick to assert that it did not appear that the earthquake would result in any tsunami waves, since the earthquake was lower than the generally accepted magnitude of 6.9 that would warrant the issuance of tsunami warnings. Even so, cruise ships which were scheduled to make landfall in the U.S. state were asked to continue on to their next destinations. Flights into Hawaii from the U.S. mainland were being canceled, as were flights out of the island chain`s airports, though in the immediate aftermath of the quake airports on emergency backup systems allowed flights to take off and land.

While the quake was strong, the general feeling among insurers is that claims would reach not into the billions - as they did in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina`s havoc-wreaking along the Gulf Coast, or other hurricanes which hit Florida in 2005 - but rather into the millions. The loss of electricity hampered communications, and only a few radio and television outlets were still broadcasting throughout the quake and afterward. The most costly U.S. earthquake in history - in terms of insurance payouts - was the 1994 Northridge, California earthquake, which resulted in $26 billion in payouts when calculated in 2006 dollars.