Japan quake may cost up to $309bn

Osaka - Japan on Wednesday estimated the economic cost of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami to be up to ¥25 trillion ($309 billion), more than double the cost of the 1995 Kobe earthquake.

The total cost from collapse or damage to houses, factories and infrastructure such as roads and bridges would be between ¥16 trillion and ¥25 trillion over the next three fiscal years, according to the Cabinet Office.

The damage could lower Japan's growth by 0.5%, it warned.

The figure compared with roughly ¥9.6 trillion damage from the Kobe quake in 1995.

The estimated figure covers seven prefectures of the hardest-hit areas of Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima, as well as Hokkaido, Aomori, Ibaraki, and Chiba.