Shares in the German insurance groups plunged in early trading on Friday as they appeared set to take a hammering from the massive earthquake in Japan.
Shares in re-insurance giant Munich Re fell by 4.63 percent to 111.35 euros, and Allianz was off by 1.86 percent to 100.1 euros, while the DAX index of German blue chips was off by 1.07 percent overall.
Shares in Hannver Re, the world's third biggest re-insurance group were 4.30 percent lower at 39.05 euros, while the MDax index on which they are listed was off by 1.17 percent.
On Thursday, Munich Re, the world's biggest re-insurance company, said that the deadly Christchurch earthquake in New Zealand on February 22 would cost it about one billion Australian dollars (726 million euros, $1.0 billion).
Munich Re had stuck to its 2011 net profit target of around 2.4 billion euros but warned that "it will only be able to achieve this target if random major losses remain below the average level to be expected in the further course of the year."