Quake could cost US$17bil

High cost of calamity: Police officers conducting a search operation in Wajima, Ishikawa prefecture in this filepic from Jan 9. — AP

The cost of the damage wreaked by a huge New Year’s Day earthquake that killed at least 236 people in central Japan could reach US$17.6bil (RM83.2bil), a government official said yesterday.

The magnitude-7.5 earthquake and its aftershocks devastated parts of Ishikawa prefecture on the Sea of Japan coast, toppling buildings, ripping up roads and sparking a major fire.