covering insurance companies' high-level catastrophe exposures, said yesterday that it faced claims of up to $40 million before tax from major events in the third quarter.

The company said earthquakes in Turkey, Greece, Taiwan and Mexico, flooding in Central America and tropical cyclones in the US, Caribbean, Japan and Hong Kong, would cost it $40 million in claims before tax, or $30 million after tax.

Partner Re said the most destructive events of the quarter were the earthquakes in Turkey and Taiwan, Hurricane Floyd in the US and Caribbean, and Typhoon No. 18 (Bart) in Japan, which it said were each expected to produce insured losses of more than $1 billion across the whole insurance market.

It said Typhoon Bart was likely to be the costliest, costing about $2 billion.

Partner Re is expected to post third quarter earnings in the second week of November.