NEW YORK (Bloomberg) - The 8.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Chile last week may cost insurers more than $2 billion, according to catastrophe-modeling firm AIR Worldwide.

The earthquake killed more than 700 people, cut off the nation's main highway, knocked out power lines and damaged 1.5 million homes, officials said. Economic losses may exceed $15 billion, the Boston-based firm said yesterday in an e-mailed statement.

"The total economic loss will likely be severe from damage not only to buildings, but from the widespread impact on infrastructure, including roads, bridges, airports, and utilities and telecommunications networks," said Jayanta Guin, senior vice-president of research and modelling at AIR, in the statement.

The quake was centered 200 miles southwest of Santiago near the main winemaking region and close to Concepcion, a metropolitan region of more than 500,000 people.

The area from Concepcion to Santiago contains residential and commercial property with an insurable value of $275 billion, AIR said. About 60 percent of commercial properties and as few as 10 percent of residential properties are insured against earthquakes, AIR said.

Another modelling firm, Eqecat Inc., on Saturday estimated economic losses of $15 billion to $30 billion.