I heard we're having an earthquake next year

[brucetiki]

A couple of weeks ago, get a call from a customer asking if earthquakes were covered in her insurance policy. I explained that it is with a $100 basic excess. Her response, 'So I'm not covered then'. I then reiterate that she is covered, but would have to pay the first $100 for any claim. The customer then responded with this pearler,

'Yeah I'm checking because I heard there will be an earthquake in my area next year'

Well it's great to see that I just served Nostradamous

[LillFilly]

Ehhhh? Huh?

Maybe the area just learned it was seismicly active?

[Captain Card]

Ehhhh? Huh?

Maybe the area just learned it was seismicly active?

No one knows when an Earthquake is going to strike, my area (St Louis) is in danger of a 7.~ and everyonce and awhile someone announces that but no one knows when one will be (that actually matters).

[JLRodgers]

No one knows when an Earthquake is going to strike, my area (St Louis) is in danger of a 7.~ and everyonce and awhile someone announces that but no one knows when one will be (that actually matters).

Within the next 100 years, give or take a few Actually that's just based on things I saw about the somewhat "constant" earthquakes in geological terms for when the big one would hit -- it's estimated at around 2100 at the earliest.


But specific day? Not so much.... well.... within a few days if you consider a .2-3.0 an "earthquake" as they happen like almost every week.

[Primer]

The Balcones Fault runs right down the middle of Austin, Texas (ok, so a little to the west of middle) and they've been predicting earthquakes there since the beginning. I lived in Austin for too many years and never gave it another thought, except that it might uncover some cool fossils and other relics.

[protege]

We've had a few small quakes here in Pittsburgh. Not enough to do any damage, or even be felt. But, they were enough to trip the seismograph at the museum.

That's not to say that the earth won't shift here. Nearly all of SW PA is over abandoned coal mines. Doesn't happen often, but homes and roads have collapsed into them Since that happened in my borough, I actually have an "earthquake" rider on my home insurance policy. Better to be safe than sorry

[wagegoth]

The USGS has a section with continuous updates of seismic activity. We check it every time we feel a shake, and, since we have an earthquake ready building, we feel anything over about a 2.5.

We're sitting on granite, so we're not too worried about what might come, but if I lived in the Midwest on limestone, or over old coal mines, like Protege, I'd be scared.

[Ironclad Alibi]

The USGS has a section with continuous updates of seismic activity. We check it every time we feel a shake, and, since we have an earthquake ready building, we feel anything over about a 2.5.

Here is the USGS earthquake web site. It's interesting to see all the shaking going on around the world.

[Andara Bledin]

Would earthquake insurance cover what is, technically, a land-slide or possibly sinkhole situation?

I'm in sou Cali, and I have the USGS Recent Quakes page in my bookmarks. I'm the one in my office that gives updates on magnitude, location, and aftershocks.

^-.-^

[protege]

We're sitting on granite, so we're not too worried about what might come, but if I lived in the Midwest on limestone, or over old coal mines, like Protege, I'd be scared.

It actually doesn't happen all that often. The last subsidence damage in the borough was nearly 25 years ago. Of course, when those mines were still going, about 99% of the area south of Pittsburgh was empty. It wasn't nearly as built-up as it is now.

Compare that with the area where my grandmother lived. There are still many working mines down there. Mining companies have switched over to "long-walling." With that method, entire swaths of coal are removed at once. No support pillars are left in place--eventually, the land does collapse. And yes, people have lost their homes over it. Sure, the mining companies will pay to repair things...but they'll never be like they were before. Longwalling really does make a mess of the land--even if your house isn't damaged...you could lose your water supply, fields, etc.

[Fenrus]

I'm sitting on the Wasatch Fault, right through Salt Lake City, UT. They keep saying how we're gonna have "the big one!" every now and then, but the way I see it is that I'm A) Still waiting. and B) will probably die in the initial burst.

So I'm not too worried. hahaha

[Andara Bledin]

B) will probably die in the initial burst.

See, it's that "probably" part that's scary.

^-.-^