Earthquake Risk Nationally 2
Earthquake Risk Nationally 2 : "The first national study of earthquake risk in the United States was released by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in September 2000. The study estimated that over time earthquake losses in the United States could average $4.4 billiondollars a year. This estimate includes only capital losses, such as repairing or replacing buildings, contents and inventory ($3.49 billion), and loss of income, including business interruption, rental income and wage losses ($0.93 billion). It does not cover damage and losses to critical facilities, transportation and utility lines or indirect economic losses. The $4.4 billion estimate of probable annual earthquakes losses is close to the losses from floods and hurricanes. Flood losses averaged $5.2 billion annually during the period 1989 to 1998, according to the National Weather Service. The National Climatic Data Center estimates $5.4 billion in annual hurricane losses for the same period. The report also points out that the potential cost of earthquakes has been growing because of increasing urban development in seismically active areas and the vulnerability of older buildings, which may not have been built or upgraded to current building codes. According to the study, 84 percent of the nation's annual losses are expected to occur in California, Oregon and Washington, with California accounting for the lion's share. Other areas at risk include the central United States, within the New Madrid Seismic zone, which includes parts of Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, and Arkansas, and the Charleston, South Carolina area. In addition to California metropolitan areas, cities ranked among the top 40 high-loss potential urban areas include Seattle, Portland, New York City, Salt Lake City and St. Louis. The study pointed out the need for increased recognition of metropolitan areas with "low seismic hazard" but "high seismic risk," such as New York City and Boston, which have high concentrations of buildings and an infrastructure that was built without taking into account seismic codes. Although the likelihood of catastrophic quakes occurring in these areas is statistically low, the potential cost is very high. In addition, because of the perception of low risk, neither the public nor the private sector has developed earthquake preparedness programs that teach people how to protect against earthquake damage and injury. In the continental United States, earthquakes occur most frequently west of the Rocky Mountains. While the United States experiences only two percent of the world's earthquakes, some 90 percent of its population lives in seismically active areas. Statistics show that since 1900, earthquakes have occurred in 39 states and caused damage in all 50 states. More than 3,300 Americans have died in earthquakes during the last century. Historically, the most violent earthquakes have occurred in the central United States. The largest earthquake in the continental United States was along the New Madrid Fault in Missouri, wherea three-month long series of quakes in 1811-1812 included three quakes larger than a magnitude of 8. The state with the most major earthquakes is Alaska, but the one with the most damaging earthquakes is California". (Insurance Information Institute, Earthquakes?, May 2008)
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