BOLOGNA, Italy—The earthquake that hit the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy last week left seven dead, damaged national heritage sites and is likely to significantly affect the region's well-known food industry.

Catastrophe modeler EQECAT Inc. estimated that insured losses from the magnitude-6.0 earthquake are likely to be approximately e100 million ($125 million). They are unlikely to surpass the e200 million ($250 million) in insured losses resulting from Italy's 2009 L'Aquila earthquake, Oakland, Calif.-based EQECAT said, adding that the loss figure from the 2009 quake represents “a credible upper bound” for the recent event.

The earthquake's epicenter was located between the cities of Bologna, Modena and Ferrara. Catastrophe modeler Risk Management Solutions Inc. noted that Emilia-Romagna is considered one of the richest and most developed regions in Europe and is a major center for food and automobile production.

Newark, Calif.-based RMS cited reports of damage to significant cultural heritage buildings near the earthquake's epicenter as well as factory collapses in the towns of Ponte Rodoni Di Bondeno and Sant'Agostino di Ferrara and in the industrial area of Mirandola, including several mechanical assembly plants and a biomedical facility.

The catastrophe modeler also noted the earthquake's impact on the region's food industry, including the collapse of warehouses storing more than 300,000 wheels of Parmesan and Grana Padano cheese. Reports of the value of the cheese ranged from e50 million to e250 million ($63.7 million to $313 million), RMS said.

While the city of Modena, which has a population of around 175,000, was subject to significant shaking, reports indicated there was little damage, RMS said. Modena is home to automaker Ferrari S.p.A.'s headquarters, factory and other operations, but Ferrari indicated they were not damaged.

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While the quake was felt in Bologna, which has a population of about 370,000, there were no reports of damage there. In addition, automaker Lamborghini, which has its headquarters in Sant'Agata Bolognese in the Bologna province, also did not report any damage, RMS said.

The penetration of earthquake insurance in the Italian market is relatively low, so insured losses from past Italian earthquakes have been small. The penetration rate is greater for commercial and industrial properties than residential ones, RMS said, with the modeler estimating that 40% of commercial and industrial exposures are covered.

Still, even where earthquake insurance is offered in Italy, the amount of coverage provided under the policies generally is limited, according to RMS, with full-value earthquake policies rare in the country.

Instead, most policies typically have limits of 20% to 50% of the value insured, with limits tending toward the lower end of that range in Italy's more seismically active areas and deductibles generally applying as well, RMS said.

In its analysis, EQECAT suggested that losses from the recent quake will mostly involve older, more vulnerable unreinforced brick masonry buildings, with limited classes of more modern structures possibly experiencing damage.

“The application of earthquake design codes to more modern structures, together with relatively modest earthquake insurance penetration, are expected to mitigate insured losses to around e100 million,” EQECAT said.

An analysis by SNL Financial L.C. indicated that a number of U.S. companies have units reinsuring Italian property/casualty insurers. Among them, Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s National Indemnity Co. unit assumed $73.5 million in premium from Italian insurers in 2011, according to SNL, including $46.4 million from Assicurazioni Generali S.p.A.

In addition, SNL noted, Alleghany Corp. unit Transatlantic Reinsurance Co. and HCC Insurance Holdings Inc. unit Houston Casualty Co. also reinsure Generali policies.