Seismologists predict a major earthquake, similar in size to the 1906 quake, can hit the San Francisco area at any time. With inflation and exposure added, the total property loss if such an event occurred today could be well over $200 billion and the insured loss would range between $30 to $60 billion.
“The likelihood that there will be a major earthquake along the San Andreas Fault in California is very high,” said Markus Treml, natural catastrophe expert and seismologist at Allianz Re. “According to a scientific study in 2008, the chance of having one or more magnitude 6.7 or larger earthquakes in the San Francisco region over the next 30 years is greater than 63 percent; for the whole state, it is greater than 99 percent.”
For this reason, Fireman’s Fund, one of the main California insurers in 1906 and a major property insurer today, has compared the change in population, values, and losses to form a picture of what the 1906 earthquake might look like today.
“The potential cost of earthquakes has been growing because of increasing urban development in seismically-active areas,” An earthquake today ... Read more: http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/west/2011/04/14/194530.htm
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