We have had several major Earthquakes around the world the past Five years, and the USGS has predicted an 80% chance of a 6.0 or greater happening in Northern California, 60% chance in the Bay Area, by 2032. It’s not IF, but WHEN it WILL happen!
California houses two-thirds of the nation’s earthquake risk, with most residents living within 30 miles of a major fault.But only 12% of homes with fire insurance also have earthquake coverage. This is particularly ironic considering our home, for most or us, is our largest asset, yet we consider it an acceptable risk to leave our largest asset unprotected from this inevitable peril.
What would happen if a major Earthquake occurs and you do not have earthquake coverage? Do you think the government will help? Federal disaster relief has historically been providing low interest SBA loans to eligible homeowner’s and businesses, to repair or replace damaged property. But this is additional debt that you will be adding to your current mortgage, which you are still be responsible for. The maximum SBA real property loan for primary home repair is $200,000.
FEMA disaster grants are available to those who don’t qualify for a loan, but the average grant is less than $15,000, and the maximum is $26,200. Would that rebuild your home here?
Along with an earthquake kit, (which should include camping gear, water, food and cash, all of which may be difficult to access if the big one hits); you should seriously consider purchasing an Earthquake policy. For information contact us on our website: http://www.farmersagent.com/ctrowbridge
8/25/14- And here you have it! Yesterday around 3:20 AM we had a 6.0 in the Napa area! So, the USGS prediction has come true, already! But… could we have another one, a really big one still to come? I saw on the news that only 17% of homes have Earthquake Insurance. Very concerning?
3/11/2015-USGS Update
The chance of a magnitude-8 quake striking the state in the next three decades jumped from 4.7 percent to 7 percent, mainly because scientists took into account the possibility that several faults can shake at once, releasing seismic energy that results in greater destruction. While the risk of a mega-quake is higher than past estimates, it’s more likely — greater than 99 percent chance — that California will be rattled by a magnitude-6.7 jolt similar in size to the 1994 Northridge disaster. The chance of a Northridge-size quake was slightly higher in Northern California than Southern California — 95 percent versus 93 percent, according to a report released Tuesday by the U.S. Geological Survey. Because of this knowledge, the odds of a catastrophic quake — magnitude 8 or larger — in the next 30 years increased. There is a 93 percent chance of a magnitude 7 or larger occurring over the same period and a 48 percent chance of a magnitude 7.5 — similar to previous estimates.
The new report included newly discovered fault zones and the possibility that a quake can jump from fault to fault. Of the more than 300 faults that crisscross the state, the southern segment of the San Andreas Fault — which runs from central California to the Salton Sea near the U.S.-Mexico border — remains the greatest threat because it hasn’t ruptured in more than three centuries. The report found there is a 19 percent chance in the next 30 years that a Northridge-size quake will unzip the southern section compared to a 6.4 percent chance for the northern section, partly because it last broke in 1906.
The southern San Andreas is “ready to have an earthquake because it’s really locked and loaded,” Field said. The report is a forecast, but it is not a prediction. Experts still cannot predict exactly where or when a quake will hit anywhere in the world.
