Earthquake preparedness

Got a letter today from the California Earthquake Authority announcing that they’ve got new rates, new coverage options, and that they actually have the money to pay out should there be a quake.

One thing that I particularly like is that they’re now calibrating rates according to risk, using the latest data from the California Geological Survey, the USGS, and the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center. 85% of policyholders will see their rates go down, while the remaining 15% will see them go up— partly because of new understanding of risk, but also because they’re now rating risk based on number of stories and construction age.

This is great news because it creates economic incentives to be sensible about building for the hazards. There’s nothing like a dollar bottom line to get people to pay attention to risks.

They also provide a pointer to Earthquake Country, which offers a free publication Putting Down Roots in Earthquake Country in separate editions for Southern California and the San Francisco Bay Area [PDF].