The Little Secret of Aftershocks on Earthquake Policies

Was the damage done to your house from the initial Earthquake or the Aftershock?

The reason that this determination can be so important with an Earthquake policy.

How to protect your property form the Chasm created by Earthquake Policies.

The Secret of Aftershocks on Earthquake Policies Explained:

All insurance policies have a start date. Property policies typically have an end date of one year from the inception, subject to other terms and conditions being met. Such as payment and inspections. That much is clear. What is not so clear is what is considered the inception date of an the event or in this case the date of the earthquake.

Typically if damage is done to a property policy during the policy coverage time, then the property would be protected from a covered peril. That is not necesarily the case in the early days of an earthquake insurance policy. [In addition, covererage could theoretically be there for the first few days after the policy ended. Or would it?]

A house may have collapsed on June 9th, but it could be deemed that it collapsed from an aftershock from an earthquake from June 7th. If the coverage started June 8th – there may not be coverage. Sound Crazy? Its Not really.

In an article from several months ago, we reviewed the lack of an exact definition of an “Aftershock” on a CEA policy – and here we will review why this is so important.

A Definition of an Aftershock:

This is not necesarily the definition of an aftershock on your earthquake insurance policy. But Vocabulary defines an Aftershock as “a small earthquake that echoes or follows a larger one.” This definition is almost too simplisitc for our situation though.

USGS who might be the definitive source here defines aftershocks as “smaller earthquakes that occur in the same general area during the days to years following a larger event or mainshock. They occur within 1-2 fault lengths away and during the period of time before the background seismicity.” Their explanaition goes onto explain that ” aftershocks represent minor readjustments along the portion of a fault that slipped at the time of the mainshock. The frequency of these aftershocks decreases with time.” This definition is much more useful in our situation. Please note the USGS timespan of an aftershock “days to years” is very different from the CEA timeframe for aftershocks of “within a 360-hour” timeframe.

The CEA has a specific definition of a Seismic Event. However their definition of an Aftershock is…. a bit less clear. Its frankly an open question, in our mind. The CEA definition, seen below, of a Seismic Event “means one or more earthquakes that occur within a 360-hour period.” And “all earthquake or aftershocks that occur within the 360 hours immediately following the initial earthquake are considered…to be part of the same seismic event.”

*please note that your earthquake policy might not have the exact definition here…

Perhaps a better question concerning aftershocks is not what an aftershock is, so much as… who determines what it is and what is not an aftershock. Exactly who?

This distinction between the original quake and what is deemed to be an aftershock could have a significant impact on your earthquake property insurance policy.

How to Protect yourself from the Quirk of Earthquake Aftershock Dates:

A problem arises with earthquake property policies in that the actual date of damage may not be deemed the date of the original earthquake. The simple solution to this problem is two fold: 1. When starting any earthquake property policy, just understand the potential initial date limitations. Since there is no way around it, you must live with it. 2. Do not allow a gap to form in between earthquake policies. Such as when you are changing insurers, etc. This is not a situation such as unused car that is not being used and not insured, there the risk is pretty minor. But with a million dollar home and earthquake insurance – this could be a big problem.

To reiterate – 1. Understand the Limitations and 2. Do not allow Gaps of Time to form. These are the two best tools to protect you and your family from the the secret of aftershocks on many earthquake policies.