Forest fires in Canada, storms in Europe and the U.S., andearthquakes in Japan and Ecuador drove up losses from global naturalcatastrophes in the first half of 2016, according to .

Natural catastrophe losses reached $70 billion in the firsthalf of 2016, compared with $59 billion in the prior-year period. Insuredlosses totaled $27 billion, compared with $19 billion in the year-ago period.

Direct losses from the wildfires that ravaged the town ofFort McMurray in Alberta totaled $3.6 billion, of which $2.7 billion wereinsured.

Heavy storms that brought hail, torrential rain and flashfloods in the U.S. and Europe resulted in overall losses of more than $20billion, of which about $12.3 billion was from a series of storms in Texas andneighboring states. The insured losses from the events in Texas and neighboringstates were $8.8 billion.

Overall losses from the storms in Europe reached $6.1billion, of which $3 billion were insured. Losses in Germany accounted for $2.8billion of overall losses and $1.3 billion of insured losses.

Two earthquakes on the southern Japanese island of Kyushuresulted in overall losses of $25 billion, of which only $5.9 billion wereinsured due to the low insurance density for earthquake risks.

The earthquake in the Pacific coast of Ecuador caused $2.5billion in overall losses and $400 million of insured losses.