While the 5.9 magnitude earthquake that hit Virginia, earlier today, and shook up the entire east coast of the United States was a very loud reminder that people in California aren’t the only ones who need earthquake insurance, the catastrophe modeling company Eqecat says it actually caused less than $100 million in insured losses.
According to Eqecat, insurance losses were minimized because the earthquake was relatively weak. Had it had a magnitude of 7 rather than just under 6, the insured losses would have been more than 20 times greater, is says.
Eqecat’s models are used in the insurance industry in order to assess risk, predict losses and plan coverage. Representatives of the company said its data suggests that in the affected areas, minor damage is more likely than any significant structural damage.
After years of insurance coverage prices going down, disastrous earthquakes around the world have literally rocked the insurance industry. Prices began to increase after the March temblor in Japan caused tens of billions of dollars in insured losses and much more than that in economic losses.