I think that's the actual definition of salvage title. When a insurance company feels the damage is more than 70% of the total vehicle worth, they mark it as a total loss which typically makes it a salvage title. Although some states will inspect vehicles before making issuing a salvage title.
Actual damage isn't always necessary as many states salvage title vehicles that have been recovered from GTA.
All of this is open to interpretation, I'm not an expert... just a Google search genius.