Catastrophe risk modeling firm AIR Worldwide (AIR) said it has “significantly expanded” its earthquake and typhoon models for Southeast Asia.
The new earthquake model features the ability to account for the tsunami and liquefaction subperils for Indonesia, the Philippines, and Taiwan.
The updated typhoon model features a precipitation-induced flooding module built using high-resolution data and also a probabilistic storm surge module for Hong Kong, the Philippines, and Taiwan.
Additionally, the model domain has been expanded to include the following countries and territories: Guam, Macau, Saipan, and Vietnam for typhoon risk; and Hong Kong, Macau, Vietnam, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, and Malaysia for earthquake risk.
“Southeast Asia has some of the fastest-growing economies. Located partly on the Ring of Fire, it’s seismically one of the most active regions in the world, with earthquakes of magnitude 8.0 or larger occurring once every eight to ten years, on average,” said Dr. Jayanta Guin, executive vice president and chief research officer at AIR Worldwide. “On the atmospheric side, more than 25 tropical cyclones typically form each year in the Northwest Pacific. A wealth of data has become available due to the number of catastrophes in this region, and AIR scientists have been conducting extensive research over the past 10 years to better understand these events. ”
Guin said the the enhanced catastrophe models will provide insurers and industry stakeholders with the “most advanced view of shake, tsunami, liquefaction, wind, precipitation-induced flooding and storm surge risk in Southeast Asia.”
The AIR Typhoon Model for Southeast Asia—part of AIR’s Northwest Pacific Basinwide Typhoon Model—provides a probabilistic approach for determining the likelihood of losses from typhoon winds, precipitation-induced flooding and storm surge. Loss data from the Southeast Asia insurance market was used to validate model results.
Additionally, both the AIR Earthquake Model for Southeast Asia and the AIR Typhoon Model for Southeast Asia incorporate detailed industry exposure databases accounting for each country’s unique building practices. Both models also incorporate findings from studies of local building codes, damage surveys, loss experience data, and structural engineering research. They contain information on the most recent risk counts, replacement values, occupancies and construction types of insurable structures, including builder’s risk.
Industrial facilities and tall buildings are among the highest-value risks in Southeast Asia and account for a significant portion of insured value in these countries. The AIR models have separate damage functions for industrial facilities and tall buildings.
“This has been one of our most comprehensive model expansions to date,” said Dr. Milan Simic, managing director of international operations at AIR Worldwide.
The models for Southeast Asia are currently available in the CATRADER Version 18 and Touchstone 4.0 catastrophe risk management systems. In addition to new and updated models, Touchstone 4.0 features a variety of enhancements designed to improve performance, workflow efficiency, and the overall user experience.
Source: AIR Worldwide, a Verisk company.
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