Published January 13, 2023

Get Prepared for a Major Earthquake

Written by Michael Minson

Get Prepared for a Major Earthquake header image.

Earthquakes may be infrequent, but they could be catastrophic.

According to FEMA, only about 10% of California homeowners have earthquake insurance. That leaves the vast majority of our friends, family, clients, and colleagues without coverage when the next one comes. Now, if you live near a major fault line, like just about everyone in the Bay Area, you can better protect yourself and your family by getting earthquake insurance. Did you know your homeowner's insurance policy will not cover damage from earthquakes? It usually only covers things like fire and theft, but earthquake insurance is a giant carve-out.

San Francisco is slowly but steadily moving closer and closer to Los Angeles. At about a rate of two inches per year. Now, that's about as fast as your fingernails grow. For some context now, this is because the two sides of the San Andreas Fault are gradually slipping past one another. The cities will meet in several million years, which may be great if you're looking to reduce your commute to Palm Springs, but not so great if your protection strategy is to hope and pray.

"You can better protect yourself and your family by getting earthquake insurance."

We've had about six major quakes in the past 150 years, which averages out to about one every 25 years. Now the Association of Bay Area Governments commissioned a study that gives us a 72% chance of a quake of magnitude 6.2 or greater in the next 30 years. Personally, I think we're a little overdue. Loma Prieta was 34 years ago, which is also when Taylor Swift was born, as well as the World Wide Web if you can believe it. So it's inevitable that major quakes in the Bay Area are here to stay, at least for the next several million years. While the occurrence of major quakes is infrequent, the consequences can be catastrophic, up to and including total loss. With Bay Area real estate prices still some of the highest in the country, your entire nest egg could be reduced to rubble in minutes.

Take a look at this FEMA map. If you really want to see some hard truth, this shows the seismic design categories, which is how they measure impact areas and the associated levels of shaking. Most of the Bay Area is red or category E, which is the strongest shaking likely. Red is never a good thing on a map like this, and this is no exception. Listen to how they describe the impacts. Damage would be considerable, with outcomes like framing thrown out of plumb, buildings shifted off their foundations, or even buildings that partially collapse or are completely destroyed. Yet only 10% of us have protection. That's pretty crazy, huh?

Now, it's pretty rare when we sell buildings or houses that actually have earthquake insurance, but buyers appreciate it, and they find comfort in it. I'm pretty sure you would, too. Now, I met with my local Farmers agent, Linda, and she helped me get a policy for my median price single family home in San Francisco for about $170 a month. Your homeowner's insurance provider can get you a quote for earthquake policy coverage as well, but if you'd like a second opinion and would like a quote from my insurance agent, I'm happy to make an intro. Now, I'm not an insurance broker, and I am only sharing my personal experience with you in hopes that you'll take care of business and get your family covered, or at least strongly consider it. It's worth it. If for nothing else, you'll not have to worry about living in a FEMA trailer. Now they're nothing like a tiny house, and they're not sexy at all. So please get covered.

As always, if you're looking to buy, sell, or invest in real estate anywhere in the Bay Area or wine country, or if you have a question and would like to discuss your particular situation, give me a call. I'm happy to help.