Latest Earthquake Headlines
All the headlines from our Earthquake Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Fitch Affirms California Earthquake Authority’s ‘A’ Rating
Oct 29 2013 // Fitch Ratings has affirmed the “A” rating on California Earthquake Authority’s outstanding fixed-rate revenue bonds, which mature on July 1, 2016. Fitch has also affirmed CEA’s Issuer Default Rating...
USGS: Quakes in Central Oklahoma Here to Stay
Oct 28 2013 // Prague, a central Oklahoma town of 2,400, claims two things as its own: Olympian Jim Thorpe and an annual kolache festival that honors its Czech heritage every May. Some locals here say the place should be known for a...
Members of Aon Benfield’s Analytics Team Explain Cat Models
Oct 18 2013 // “Our remit at Aon Benfield Analytics is really to do the risk quantification part of reinsurance transactions,” said John Moore, the head of International Analytics operations. He’s responsible for...
Philippines Freezes Prices in Quake Zone as Death Toll Hits 107
Oct 16 2013 // The Philippines froze prices for basic goods to prevent gouging in an area cut off by the country’s biggest earthquake in a year, as the death toll from the temblor rose to 107. Rescue crews were searching for...
EQECAT President Paul Little on Cat Models – from the General to the Specific
Oct 11 2013 // EQECAT’s President Paul Little explains how cat models have evolved from the general to the specific and what’s now required to create good ones. He also foresees cellular technology – iPhones, Androids,...
Strong Quake Strikes Southern Pakistan: AIR Worldwide Analysis
Sep 25 2013 // According to catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide, “at 7:29 a.m. Eastern time (4:29 p.m. local time), a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck southern Pakistan. The epicenter was located 69 km (43 miles) north-northeast...
Canada Regulator Urges Re/Insurers to Use Cat Bonds after Flood Disaster
Sep 25 2013 // Canada’s banking regulator is urging insurers to sell catastrophe bonds for the first time to cut the risk of natural disasters, such as the record floods that inundated swathes of downtown Calgary in June. Climate...
Swarm Of Earthquakes Shake Yellowstone
Sep 24 2013 // Until recently, Bob Smith had never witnessed two simultaneous earthquake swarms in his 53 years of monitoring seismic activity in and around the Yellowstone Caldera. Now, Smith, a University of Utah geophysics professor,...
Cooley Masters Quake Insurance
Sep 23 2013 // Editor’s note: This is part of a series on insurance professionals in politics. This is a national series. Some of the articles focused on the Western U.S. region can be read in the pages of this issue of Insurance...
Magnitude 5.8 Earthquake Hits Japan’s Fukushima Prefecture-Kyodo
Sep 20 2013 // An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.8 struck Fukushima Prefecture in Japan early Friday morning, Kyodo reported, quoting the Japan Meteorological Agency. No tsunami warning has been issued, the news agency...
River Floods, Earthquakes are Highest Risk to Urban Areas: Swiss Re Report
Sep 18 2013 // River floods top the list of risks posing dangers to more people than any other natural catastrophe, according to a new Swiss Re report, which “benchmarks” the natural catastrophe risks faced by 1.7 billion...
Insurance Pros in Politics: Cooley Masters Quake Insurance
Sep 11 2013 // When it comes to mixing insurance and politics, the two might as well be one in the same for California Assemblyman Ken Cooley. Cooley, D-Rancho Cordova, started his career in the 1970s working on earthquake issues with a...
Hotspot Volcanoes: Earthquake Risk in Hawaii
Sep 9 2013 // It was June 15, 1990, when Mount Pinatubo, on the island of Luzon in the Philippines, awoke from its 500-year slumber to produce the second largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century. Nearly a year before, Luzon was...
Aon’s Impact Forecasting Launches Models for E. Africa Quakes, Mexico Floods
Sep 3 2013 // Impact Forecasting, the catastrophe model development center of excellence at Aon Benfield, has launched two new models: an earthquake model for East Africa and a new flood scenario-based model for Mexico reinsurers. East...
Hollywood Groups Sue To Stop Huge Development, Earthquake Concerns
Aug 30 2013 // A coalition of residents who live in famed Hollywood neighborhoods filed a lawsuit this week to stop a $654 million skyscraper project from rising just down the hill from the landmark Hollywood Sign because of earthquake...
Arkansas Homeowners Settle Suit Charging Fracking Wastewater Caused Quakes
Aug 29 2013 // Five Arkansas residents who sued two oil companies claiming wastewater disposal wells from fracking caused earthquakes that damaged their homes settled with the companies for an undisclosed sum on Aug. 28, according to...
Arkansas Lawsuits Test Fracking Wastewater Link to Quakes
Aug 27 2013 // Tony Davis, a 54-year-old construction worker in central Arkansas, said he welcomed the boom in natural gas drilling that brought jobs and new businesses to his hometown starting about a decade ago. But that was before the...
Los Angeles Councilman Proposes Quake Building Inventory
Aug 22 2013 // A Los Angeles councilman is urging the city to find and list the potentially thousands of buildings that could collapse in an earthquake. Tom LaBonge is proposing a city inventory of so-called “soft-story”...
Earthquake Simulator Shakes Alaskan Complacency
Aug 20 2013 // An 8.0 magnitude earthquake sounds like a freight train and feels like the worst-ever air turbulence. Bookshelves tumble. Computers and television sets crash to the floor. It’s a struggle to stay upright. Even a fake...
CCRIF Countries Renew Catastrophe Insurance Policies for 2013/14
Aug 20 2013 // The sixteen member governments of the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) have renewed their hurricane and earthquake insurance for the 2013/14 policy year that started June first. The bulletin noted:...
