Here at CEA, we love data! This month, we're digging into our data bins to share facts and figures from the South Napa earthquake that struck two years ago this month.
Don't ask if. Ask when.
It's not a matter of if the next damaging earthquake will strike, but a matter of when. USGS estimates that there's a 99.7% chance of a 6.7 magnitude earthquake somewhere in California within the next 30 years – that's the length of a typical mortgage. In case you missed it, check out our thoughts on these USGS results.
The government bailout isn't enough
The South Napa earthquake taught us some valuable lessons:
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We can't always rely on government assistance. Federal assistance took over two months to be made available after the earthquake, meaning residents had to financially cope on their own for 60 days.
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The maximum grant from FEMA for any disaster is approximately $32,000. But those grants are only meant to make your client's home safe, secure, and livable – not to rebuild the damaged house.
The average FEMA grant for South Napa earthquake damage averaged out to be only $3,500 – not nearly enough to rebuild a home, replace personal property, or live elsewhere for very long while repairs were made.
Earthquake damage costs are widespread
- Only 6% of Napa residents had earthquake insurance at the time of the South Napa earthquake.
- As of June 2016, CEA has paid 194 claims for this event.
- Homes that were seismically retrofitted suffered less damage than comparable homes that were not.
- Some houses are still unoccupied or under repair.
To learn more about the widespread damages and costs, read 'A Year After South Napa Earthquake, Damage Proves Widespread and Costly.'