Monthly Archives

June 2019

Southern California Earthquakes – Unexpected Tremors

By | Blog

Southern California Earthquakes and Earthquake Insurance – Have you felt all the earthquakes recently? Whether you live in Orange County, Los Angeles County, or the Inland Empire, in the past recent weeks, a swarm of earthquakes have made their presence. We know earthquakes aren’t something new in Southern California; however, the swarm and the unexpected turn it has recently taken is new and something to consider.

Southern California Earthquakes
Source: LA TIMES | A flurry of small earthquakes in Fontana is taking an unexpected turn. (Orange dots represent quakes in the past week; yellow dots, quakes Friday.) (U.S. Geological Survey)

Just to place it in perspective, on June 5, 2019, a 4.3 earthquake centered nine miles south of San Clemente hit at 3:47 a.m. Later that day, at 7:32 a.m, another 4.3 magnitude quake hit almost the exact same spot! Then, we have around Fontana in the Inland Empire. Since May 25, 2019 (that’s only a couple of weeks), there have been MORE THAN 700 EARTHQUAKES!

We have clients calling in concerned because they’re feeling earthquake after earthquake, day after day! What is going on? Although Caltech seismologist, Egill Hauksson, said the chance that the series of tremors will turn into a large and destructive quake isn’t particularly high, what is unusual is that this swarm of quakes were initially moving northward…but then yesterday they turned around and started going back South, towards the middle of the activity and the 60 Freeway.

“This is somewhat of an unexpected evolution,” said Hauksson. In addition, the earthquake activity is fading much slower than expected, leading to Hauksson’s statement: “That would suggest it’s going to continue for – I don’t know – at least several weeks.” Hauksson also said that GIVEN ALL THE SEISMIC ACTIVITY, residents should be ready and make sure to store “plenty of water [and that] there’s nothing that can fall on them.”

Expert Recommendations for Dealing With Southern California Earthquakes

  • Removing all heavy objects from around beds and sitting areas.
  • Strapping bookcases and dressers to walls.
  • Anchoring flat-screen TVs and pictures frames to walls.
    • Note, the last known fatality from an earthquake in California was due to an unstrapped television hitting someone in the head. So make sure all heavy objects are strapped.
  • Preparing an emergency bag.
  • MAKING SURE YOUR HOME HAS ADEQUATE EARTHQUAKE INSURANCE COVERAGE.

In terms of Earthquake insurance, did you know that standard home insurance doesn’t pay for any damages from earthquakes? Earthquake insurance can be offered as an add-on or a separate policy, but whether you have it or whether you have enough coverage can be mystifying if you haven’t discussed it with your insurance broker.

Given all the seismic activity, we can’t stress enough the importance of having your current policy reviewed by us to ensure you have adequate earthquake coverage.

Earthquake insurance can pay for repairs to your home and attached structures (i.e. garages), your personal belongings (i.e. furniture and clothes), and additional living expenses (i.e. hotel bills if you can’t live in your home due to an earthquake) if an earthquake strikes. This is huge and it’s not worth the expensive risk of going unprotected!

In terms of how much coverage you will need, contact us today and we can see what’s best for you, your family, and your home!

Michael Martinez

 

Click Above Or Call Us & Find Out How Much You Can Save in Insurance!

(626) 775-7850