HAMILTON, Bermuda—Everest Re Group Ltd. said Friday its preliminary loss estimate in the Feb. 22 earthquake that hit New Zealand ranges from $140 million to $210 million.

Everest Re said its loss estimate is pretax and net of reinstatement premiums. On an aftertax basis, estimated losses are between $120 million and $180 million, the reinsurer said in a statement.

Hamilton, Bermuda-based Everest Re said its estimates in the quake that that struck New Zealand’s South Island near Christchurch were based on underwriters’ preliminary analysis and profiling of exposure limits.

Total insurance industry claims from the New Zealand quake are expected to range from $6 billion to $12 billion, Swiss Reinsurance Co. Ltd. said in a report this month.

Everest Re also said it expects gross losses of $45 million in the first quarter of this year from storms and flooding across Australia.

As far as last week’s earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan, Chairman and CEO Joseph V. Taranto said he expects Everest Re’s losses to be “significant,” but also said it’s “still too early to provide a reasonable or reliable estimate considering the fluidity of the situation.”

He added that Everest Re has “ample capacity to withstand the events that occurred during the first quarter.”

Total insured losses from the devastating events in Japan will range from $12 billion to $25 billion, catastrophe modeler EQECAT Inc. said Wednesday. The modeler added that between $2 billion and $4 billion of the total insured loss is expected to be ceded to the Japan Earthquake Reinsurance Co. Ltd. pool, which will reduce the losses of nonlife property insurers in Japan.

In assessing losses in the March 11 disaster, Boston-based catastrophe modeler AIR Worldwide Corp. estimated that insured property losses would range from $15 billion to $35 billion.

Additionally, Argo International Holdings Ltd. said Friday that its preliminary pre-tax loss estimate for the Christchurch earthquake will range from $35 million to $45 million, net of reinsurance and reinstatement premiums.

In regards to Japan, the Hamilton, Bermuda-based company said in a statement it is reviewing its insurance and reinsurance businesses as the crisis unfolds, but it is still too early to issue an estimate on losses.