European and U.S. reinsurers may sidestep costs tied to Japan’s strongest earthquake in a century as the country’s government, its carriers and uninsured property owners absorb most of the losses.

Global reinsurers may face losses “somewhere in the $10 billion range” after Japan’s primary insurers and a reinsurance program backed by the government pay their share, said Meyer Shields, an analyst with Stifel Nicolaus & Co. Commercial and industrial lines risks are “significantly underinsured” in Japan, according to a statement from Newark, California-based Risk Management Solutions Inc.