disaster claims  less than $10bn  insurers have sought to calm fears that they face huge losses after an earthquake and giant waves killed at least 38 000 people in southern asia.  munich re and swiss re  the world s two biggest reinsurers  have said exposure will be less than for other disasters. rebuilding costs are likely to be cheaper than in developed countries  and many of those affected will not have insurance  analysts said. swiss re has said total claims are likely to be less than $10bn (£5.17bn). swiss re believes that the cost would be substantial but that it is unlikely to be in double-digit billions  the financial times reported. munich re  the world s largest reinsurance company  said that its exposure is less than 100m euros (£70m; $136m).  at least 10 countries have been affected  with sri lanka  indonesia  india and thailand among the worst hit. the region s resorts and western tourists are expected to be among the main claimants.  lloyds of london told the financial times it expected its exposure to be limited to  holiday resorts  personal accident  travel insurance and marine risks . a spokeswoman for hanover re  europe s fifth-largest reinsurance firm  estimated tsunami-related damage claims would be in the low double-digit millions of euros. the company has paid out about 300 million euros (£281m; $400m) to cover damage caused recently by four major hurricanes in the us.  but insurers have not had long to assess the economic impact of the damage and reports of more casualties and destruction are still coming through.   so many things are unclear  it is just too early to tell   said serge troeber  deputy head of swiss re s natural disasters department.  you need very complicated processes to estimate damages. unlike the hurricanes  you can t just run a model.  he anticipated that his own company s total claims would be less then those from the hurricanes  which the company put at $640m. allianz  a leading german insurer  said it did not know yet what its exposure would be. however  it said the tidal waves were unlikely to have a  significant  impact on its business. zurich financial said they could not yet assess the cost of the disaster.  the impact on us insurance companies is not expected to be heavy  analysts said.  most us insurers have relatively little exposure to asia and those that do  pass on a lot of the risk to reinsurance companies or special catastrophe funds. insured damage could be a fraction of the  billions of dollars worth of destruction in sri lanka  india  thailand  indonesia  the maldive islands and malaysia   said prudential equity group insurance analyst jay gelb.  us insurers are likely to have only minimal to no exposure. it s more likely the bermuda-based reinsurance [companies] might have some exposure   said paul newsome  an insurance analyst at ag edwards & co.  many of the affected countries  such as indonesia  sri lanka or the maldives  do not usually buy insurance for these kinds of disasters  said a us-based insurance expert. early estimates from the world bank put the amount of aid needed for the worst affected countries including sri lanka  india  indonesia and thailand  at about $5bn (£2.6bn)  similar to the cash offered to central america after hurricane mitch.  mitch killed about 10 000 people and caused damage of about $10bn in 1998. but the cost of the tsunamis on the individuals involved is incalculable.  we cannot fathom the cost of these poor societies and the nameless fishermen and fishing villages ... that have just been wiped out. hundreds of thousands of livelihoods have gone   said jan egeland  head of the un office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs. tourists cutting short their holidays in affected areas may suffer a financial impact too. the association of british insurers warned that travel insurance does not normally cover cutting short a holiday. it said loss of possessions will usually be covered  but the association stressed the importance of checking the wording of travel policies.