Insurance Blog

A new report from Aon Benfield ranks Cascadia in North America among the top five areas where mega-earthquakes of moment magnitude (Mw) 8+ are most likely to occur in the future.
The other regions most at risk are the Caribbean (Lesser Antilles), Chile, Indonesia (Sumatra), and Japan.
Aon Benfield notes that the last mega-earthquake on the Cascadia Subduction Zone occurred 300 years ago, just before the start of historical records for the region, but:
Whilst the short to medium term probability of a mega-earthquake may be low, there is potential for such an event in the future and insurers should not disregard the associated risks to the cities of the Pacific North West region.”

Aon Benfield goes on to say that insurance penetration in terms of earthquake cover runs at around 30 percent for both commercial and residential property in the Pacific North West.
Pricing is competitive and earthquake cover is probably running at half […]

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A new report from Aon Benfield ranks Cascadia in North America among the top five areas where mega-earthquakes of moment magnitude (Mw) 8+ are most likely to occur in the future.
The other regions most at risk are the Caribbean (Lesser Antilles), Chile, Indonesia (Sumatra), and Japan.
Aon Benfield notes that the last mega-earthquake on the Cascadia Subduction Zone occurred 300 years ago, just before the start of historical records for the region, but:
Whilst the short to medium term probability of a mega-earthquake may be low, there is potential for such an event in the future and insurers should not disregard the associated risks to the cities of the Pacific North West region.”

Aon Benfield goes on to say that insurance penetration in terms of earthquake cover runs at around 30 percent for both commercial and residential property in the Pacific North West.
Pricing is competitive and earthquake cover is probably running at half […]

Read the rest of this great post here

–>

A new report from Aon Benfield ranks Cascadia in North America among the top five areas where mega-earthquakes of moment magnitude (Mw) 8+ are most likely to occur in the future.
The other regions most at risk are the Caribbean (Lesser Antilles), Chile, Indonesia (Sumatra), and Japan.
Aon Benfield notes that the last mega-earthquake on the Cascadia Subduction Zone occurred 300 years ago, just before the start of historical records for the region, but:
Whilst the short to medium term probability of a mega-earthquake may be low, there is potential for such an event in the future and insurers should not disregard the associated risks to the cities of the Pacific North West region.”

Aon Benfield goes on to say that insurance penetration in terms of earthquake cover runs at around 30 percent for both commercial and residential property in the Pacific North West.
Pricing is competitive and earthquake cover is probably running at half […]

Read the rest of this great post here

Of all natural disasters, earthquakes are notoriously difficult to predict. Establishing a reliable method of predicting quakes so far has eluded scientists, though many have attempted to associate an impending earthquake with various factors such as seismicity patterns, ground movement, weather conditions and animal behavior. The widespread belief that animals can anticipate earthquakes has just gained some credibility with the news that toads may be able to predict imminent quakes. According to a study by British researchers from the Open University, a population of toads showed a dramatic change in behavior five days before the earthquake in L’Aquila, Italy last year, abandoning their breeding site and not resuming normal behavior until some days after the event. The number of male toads active around the breeding site declined by 96 percent five days before the earthquake while the number of toads at the site fell to zero three days before the […]

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The Chile earthquake could outpace Hurricane Wilma as the most costly insured event in Latin America’s history, according to a recent posting at insurereinsure.com (the insurance and reinsurance blog of Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge). Quoting commentary from reinsurance broker Cooper Gay it notes that even if insured losses fall in the mid-range of current estimates of between $2 billion and $8 billion, the earthquake likely will overtake Hurricane Wilma in 2005 as the most expensive insured event ever to hit Latin America. Insurereinsure.com goes on to note that some compliance and coverage issues have also begun to emerge from Chile as the investigation of losses progresses. International insurers and reinsurers continue to announce preliminary loss estimates following the quake. Global Reinsurance also quotes Cooper Gay analysis comparing the Chile quake to Hurricane Wilma. While Wilma was very specific to the Cancun region in Mexico, largely affecting coastal, hospitality-related properties, […]

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California residents are the weakest link in earthquake preparedness and more than 60 percent have not done enough to make their homes safer and guard their personal finances, according to a newly released study. The California Earthquake Preparedness Survey conducted by the University of California Los Angeles School of Public Health for the state Emergency Management Agency found that many California residents have taken the easy route to prepare for a large-scale quake, by collecting supplies and making back-up copies of important documents. However, they have not taken additional steps to prepare such as securing the contents of their home or purchasing earthquake insurance. Key takeaways of the study include: fewer than 20 percent of households have structurally reinforced their homes or had their homes inspected for earthquake resistance; fewer than 20 percent of Californians have purchased earthquake insurance; only 40 percent keep the recommended minimum of three gallons of […]

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Latest reports suggest the magnitude 8.8 earthquake that struck Chile early Saturday morning has resulted in more than 700 fatalities and the death toll is expected to rise as rescuers access the most damaged areas. It comes just weeks after the magnitude 7.0 earthquake that hit Haiti in January leaving up to 230,000 dead per Haitian government estimates. How could two such damaging earthquakes result in such different death tolls? According to catastrophe modeler AIR Worldwide, the epicenter in the Chile earthquake fortunately was located in a region with relatively low population density. By comparison, the recent Haiti earthquake struck close to Port-au-Prince, a city of more than 3 million people. AIR Worldwide also notes that Chile’s long history of damaging quakes has resulted in strict building codes, making the building stock considerably less vulnerable than Haiti’s. Still, the loss in Chile is likely to be severe not only in […]

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Initial reports suggest the magnitude 7.0 earthquake that hit Haiti around 5pm Eastern Time yesterday has caused widespread damage, with large loss of life expected. The quake struck about 10 miles southwest of the island nation’s capital Port-au-Prince, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. According to reports, a magnitude 5.9 aftershock followed shortly afterwards some 30 miles further west, followed by a 5.5 aftershock closer to the location of the first quake. Haiti is a member of the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF), a multinational insurance pool developed by the World Bank. Funded by premiums paid by participating countries, the facility provides early payout to members after a major earthquake or hurricane. In recent years the CCRIF paid out approximately $500,000 each to Dominica and St. Lucia after a 2007 earthquake, and $6.4 million to the Turks and Caicos Islands in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike in 2008. Check out […]

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A magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck some 320 km (200 miles) south-southwest of Tokyo on Sunday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), with an offshore epicenter some 303 km (188 miles) deep. The Japan Meteorological Agency put the magnitude of the earthquake slightly less, at 6.9. The quake apparently halted trains and a baseball game, but there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. Japan lies in one of the most seismically active areas of the world. Research by catastrophe modeler RMS indicates that a repeat of the 1923 magnitude 7.9 Great Kanto earthquake would cause approximately $80 billion in insured property losses. The magnitude 7.2 Great Hanshin (Kobe) earthquake of 1995 was one of the worst in Japan’s history and ranks among the top 40 worst global catastrophes between 1970 and 2008 both in terms of victims and insured losses. Some 6,425 people died in the quake which […]

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