Quake Loss in Japan Put at $96 Billion : Disaster: Damage to buildings alone is estimated at $63 billion. Figure is government’s first comprehensive estimate.

A month after a killer earthquake struck central Japan, the government released its first comprehensive tally of damage Thursday, estimating the loss at $96 billion.

The amount corresponds to the projected funds needed for reconstruction of areas hit by the Jan. 17 quake, which killed at least 5,376 people, most of them in the seaport of Kobe.

“Total damage could change in the future as we receive more detailed reports. . . “ said an official at the National Land Agency, which announced the estimate.

The government of Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama has unveiled a package of measures to help rebuild earthquake-hit areas but had not issued an official damage estimate.

Officials in Hyogo prefecture in central Japan, the area hit hardest by the earthquake, said earlier that damage there would total $99.6 billion.

Of the Land Agency’s estimate, damage to buildings was estimated at $63 billion. Damage to ports, roads and railroads was put at $22 billion.

Damage to utilities and sewage, telecommunications and broadcasting systems was estimated at $6 billion.

The remaining $5 billion damage was to river systems and agricultural, educational and other facilities.

The quake forced many companies in Kobe and elsewhere in Hyogo prefecture to halt business.

Fuyuhiko Maki, chairman of the Kobe Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told a news conference that the chamber tried to reach 10,000 of its 14,000 member companies in Kobe by phone, but 3,000 of them did not answer.

“About 2,000 companies of the 7,000 which we were able to contact said their buildings were either destroyed or severely damage,” Maki said.