SOUTHLAND

From Kobe to Northridge: A delegation of Japanese business, labor and legal leaders is meeting in San Francisco today with California Insurance Commissioner Chuck Quackenbush to study the U.S. earthquake insurance system in search of lessons for Japan. The Japanese are still recovering from the earthquake that killed 5,500 in Kobe last Jan. 17--a year to the day after the Northridge earthquake. Although Southern California is a year further along in the rebuilding process, the earthquake insurance market remains in a shambles. Most big insurers still refuse to write new coverage, threatening to make California more like Japan, where less than 5% of residents have quake insurance. A Quackenbush proposal before the state legislature would create a quasi-public corporation to take over earthquake coverage. The Japanese delegation includes representatives of employer groups, trade unions, the insurance industry and bar associations. They visit Sacramento on Tuesday to talk with state legislators.