Many homeowners think that their insurance policy covers them against any kind of major natural disasters. In reality, we should make sure that each individual catastrophe needs to be mentioned in the contract. In many areas around the world, especially those located on and near the fault lines, earthquake is a common occurrence. In this case, we should make sure that all of our assets, including property and cars should be protected against earthquake. Health insurance policies should also mention injuries caused by earthquake, especially due to falling objects. In many cases, we should accept earthquake as the way things in our lives. Quakes could actually happen quite frequently. Small tremors could cause cracks to build up on the wall and they may lead to a major quake in the near future.
Certain regions and areas around the world are more prone to quakes. We should learn more about the geographical characteristics of our house. We should know about the location of the nearest major fault lines. We should also look back at the recorded histories. If a major earthquake happens in the last 100 years, another could happen in our lifetime. If we can choose, we shouldn’t choose to live in cities, states or regions that are vulnerable to major earthquakes. A quake is considered as major one if it is registered at least 7 on the Richter scale. Below that, the quake may be less perceptible and can even be weaker than the vibration we feel when someone walks near us. However, constant small quakes could still cause wear and tear on our property, causing hairline cracks to develop on the foundations.
It is also important to know that the epicentre of the earthquake can determine the overall damages. As an example, an earthquake at 6.7 magnitude on the Richter scale could cause massive damages if it takes place in the center of the urban locations. The surrounding cities and towns can be badly affected. Major earthquakes may cause more than one billion of dollars in damage to the whole communities. A very intense earthquake that happened at the North East portion of Indian Ocean caused massive tsunami in 2004. Although our house could be located farther away from an earthquake measured 9 on the Richter scale; it is possible that could still suffer from major damages. This is something that we really need to consider.
In this case, just because our homeowner’s insurance policy contains earthquake component, it doesn’t mean that we will be fully protected. Dedicated earthquake insurance is needed in areas where major earthquakes are likely to happen in our area. Unfortunately, many houses are still not protected against the most likely natural disasters in the area. It would be a bad decision if our insurance portfolio isn’t optimized for the local conditions. It’s vital for homeowners to insure themselves properly against earthquake damages. In general, earthquake insurance should be quite easy to get and if our area is also prone to other natural disasters, like flooding; we may need to get dedicated insurance protection against them.