10. Dawson's Field Hijackings

Insured Property Losses: $165 million

On Sep. 12, 1970, Palestinian militants hijacked, then blew up three planes—a Swissair DC-8, a TWA Boeing 707, and a BOAC VC-10. The hijacked planes were landed at the Dawson's Field airstrip, a former RAF base in the desert at Zarqa, Jordan, and hostages were held there for up to six days. Some of the passengers were released early on; another 40 passengers, detained as hostages, were moved from the planes just prior to the explosions.

Members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) issued a 72-hour deadline for the release of seven militants being held by Switzerland, Britain and Germany, but blew up the planes prior to the deadline saying they believed “imperialistic agents” were attempting to attack and “foil” the plan. All the hostages were released on Sept. 30.

9. Oklahoma City Bombing

Insured Property Losses: $189 million

In the worst act of homegrown terrorism in the nation's history, former Army soldier and security guard Timothy McVeigh blew up the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City at 9:02 a.m. on April 19, 1995, after parking a bomb-laden Ryder rental truck in front. The blast destroyed a third of the multi-floored building and damaged more than 300 buildings nearby.

Three men were eventually captured and convicted for the plot, which aimed to take revenge for the Waco, Texas shootout two years earlier. The convicted men were McVeigh; Terry Nichols, who helped build the bomb using agricultural fertilizer, diesel fuel and other chemicals; and Michael Fortier, whom the FBI says knew of the plan. The FBI investigation, one of the bureau's most “exhaustive,” involved more than 28,000 interviews; 43,000 investigative leads; and in all, nearly a billion pieces of information.

8. Air India Flight 182 Explosion

Insured Property Losses: $209

On June 23, 1985, Air India Flight 182 from Toronto to London exploded and plunged into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Ireland, killing everyone on board. Five months later, two Sikh extremists were arrested on weapons, explosive, and conspiracy charges connected with the mid-air bombing: Talwinder Singh Parmar and Inderjit Singh Reyat. Charges were eventually dropped against Parmar, whom Canadian authorities believed to be the leader of the conspiracy; he was killed by police in India in 1992.

Reyat received only a fine on a minor explosives charge. In 1991, he was sentenced to prison for 10 years for making a bomb intended for another Air India flight, which exploded instead in Tokyo's Narita airport, killing two baggage handlers. Two years after his release, Reyat pleaded guilty to manslaughter in connection with the AI Flight 182 bombing and was sentenced to five years.

7. Docklands Bombing

Insured Property Losses: $336 million

The Irish Republican Army took credit for a bombing on Feb. 9, 1996 in the Docklands area of London that killed two men and destroyed a six-story building. The blast not only shattered windows in surrounding office buildings, but also a 17-month ceasefire that had been structured by Irish, British and American leaders in attempts to secure peace in Northern Ireland.

The half-ton bomb had been left in a small truck near the Docklands Light Railway, and the blast was felt as far as the landmark Canary Wharf Tower, a half-mile away.

A 29-year-old bricklayer, James McArdle of County Armagh in Northern Ireland, was eventually found guilty of conspiracy to cause explosions in June 1998 and was sentenced to 25 years in jail; murder charges were dropped. The IRA agreed to another ceasefire 18 months later, and peace was negotiated in May 1998 with the Good Friday Agreement, approved by voters in Ireland and Northern Ireland. McArdle was released in July 2000 under the agreement.

6. Bandaranaike Airport Attack

Insured Property Losses: $517 million

On July 24, 2001, ethnic Tamil rebel forces the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), commonly known as the Tamil Tigers, used mortars, guns, and explosives to destroy three airliners and eight military aircraft, and heavily damage three civilian aircraft in a dawn raid at Colombo International Airport in Sri Lanka. The raid destroyed half of the country's commercial airliners and closed the airport, with flights diverted to India. Killed in the attack were guerrillas, civilians and military personnel. The Sri Lanka Air Force also lost several planes at a nearby airbase.

The attack coincided with the anniversary of anti-Tamil riots in 1983. The LTTE is also suspected of the May 1991 assassination of Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, reportedly an act of revenge against India for sending a peacekeeping force that ended up fighting the rebels. The civil war that divided the country for decades came to a halt when government forces crushed the rebels in 2009. On Sept. 21, the Tamils faced their first provincial court election, a step they hope will lead to self-government.

5. 1993 World Trade Center Bombing

Insured Property Losses: $810 million

On Feb. 26, 1993, a car bomb exploded in an underground garage at the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan, killing six people and injuring more than 650 others, who suffered mostly smoke inhalation and minor burns as they exited the burning skyscraper. The explosion, which the FBI termed “a deadly dress rehearsal for 9/11,” was meant to topple one of the Twin Towers, which would then knock over the other as it fell. Instead, the explosion created a 100-foot crater in the building, trapping hundreds and forcing the evacuation of more than 50,000 workers, and was felt from the Wall Street area to Ellis and Liberty islands in New York Harbor.

Some 700 FBI agents investigated the bombing worldwide, eventually uncovering a dual plot by a group of Islamic fundamentalists to destroy the Word Trade Center, plus a series of New York landmarks, including the U.N. building and the Holland and Lincoln Tunnels. The mastermind, Ramzi Yousef, was captured in Pakistan in February 1995. His uncle, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, would later assist al Qaeda in returning to the U.S. to complete the WTC destruction on Sept. 11, 2001.

4. Baltic Exchange Bombing

Insured Property Losses: $870 million

On 10 April 1992 at 9:20 p.m., the Irish Republican Army detonated a truck bomb outside the offices of the Baltic Exchange in London, killing three people and causing major damage to the building's façade and surrounding buildings. Another 91 people were injured. The site is near the Bank of England and one of the metropolis's main train stations, Liverpool Street.

The one-ton bomb, hidden in a large white truck, was made from fertilizer and Semtex, a brand of plastic explosive. Today, a plaque marks the explosion spot near the Gherkin (the towering, pickle-like skyscraper once home to Swiss Re), which was built on the site of the Baltic Exchange.

3. 1996 Manchester Bombing

Insured Property Losses: $966 million

On June 15, 1996, the Irish Republican Army detonated a car bomb in central Manchester, England, destroying a shopping mall and injuring some 200 people with flying glass. It was the seventh attack by the IRA since breaking its ceasefire in February—the Docklands bombing, which killed two—and at the time, was the second-largest terrorism attack on the British mainland.

A local television station received a telephone warning at 10:00 BST, just as the mall was filling up with Saturday shoppers, with the bomb exploding around 11:20 BST. In 2006, British police released a video clip taken from a police helicopter hovering above the crime scene, showing the full impact of the explosion. The amount of damage done to buildings in the shopping mall district eventually led to a total revamping of the area. Within 10 weeks, the Irish Republicans had planted five other devices throughout London.

2. Bishopsgate Bombing

Insured Property Losses: $1.2 billion

On Apr. 24, 1993, the Irish Republican Army detonated a truck bomb in the Bishopsgate area of the London financial district near the former National Westminster Tower, the city's second-tallest building, killing one person and injuring 44. Nearby damages included a church and the Liverpool Street underground station. A medieval church, St. Ethelburga's, was destroyed.

Police had received coded warnings, as in similar IRA attacks, and were still evacuating the area when the bomb exploded. Most of the injured were security guards, builders, maintenance staff, and financial district workers who had come to their offices to work over the weekend.

The nearby Baltic Exchange, damaged in a car bomb blast a year earlier, had just reopened after repairs and was damaged again by the truck detonation. The explosion and ensuing repairs required massive payouts by insurance companies that contributed to a crisis in the industry and the near-collapse of Lloyd's of London.

1. September 11 Attacks

Insured Property Losses: $24.4 billion

On Sept. 11, 2001, in the worst terrorist attack on American soil, a group of 19 terrorists connected to the Islamic extremist group al-Qaeda hijacked four airliners and carried out long-planned suicide attacks against financial and political targets in the U.S., including the Twin Towers of the Word Trade Center in lower Manhattan and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.; one plane crashed into a Pennsylvania field. Nearly 3,000 people were killed in the attacks, including more than 400 police officers and firefighters.

The 110-floor Twin Towers were both completely destroyed in the attacks, along with 3 World Trade Center and 7 World Trade Center. The U.S. Customs House (6 World Trade Center), 4 World Trade Center, 5 World Trade Center, St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, and both pedestrian bridges connecting buildings were severely damaged. The Deutsche Bank Building on 130 Liberty Street was partially damaged and demolished later. The two buildings of the World Financial Center also suffered damage.