A few days ago I asked our Facebook fans and Twitter followers to ask us any questions they may have about insurance and we would answer them in the blog. San Elijo Life asked, “Do we really did need Earthquake Insurance in San Elijo Hills?”

Here is our answer:

In the US, two states are known for their high occurrence of seismic activity: Alaska and California. California’s famous and very active San Andreas Fault runs the length of the state and is part of the famed Ring Of Fire, a band of seismic and volcanic activity that surrounds the Pacific plate. Earthquakes along this fault occur many times every day: 10,000 per year, several hundred that we can feel, and only about 15-20 that are over a magnitude 4.0.

There are different locations in California, which, due to their proximity to the fault, are more likely to have damage due to seismic activity. Therefore, the cost of Earthquake Insurance varies depending on your address. An earthquake policy in San Diego is likely to be a third of the price of an earthquake policy in Los Angeles, since LA is closer to the fault. That said many San Diegans, myself included, can remember exactly where they were during LA’s Northridge Earthquake – and many had the cracks in their foundations and walls, water damage, and broken household décor to prove that LA was not the only place affected by that particular quake.

In California, because the likelihood of a large earthquake is so high and the results could be so catastrophic (fires, electrical outages, flooding, etc often follows these quakes and cause more damage than the quake itself) that most private insurance companies only write Earthquake Insurance through a government entity – the California Earthquake Authority (CEA.)

The state of California and its insurance companies have conducted research to feel strongly enough that the government must become involved in the case of Earthquake Insurance. With that knowledge combined with personal experience of damage to San Diego homes from earthquakes that happen in other cities, let alone our own, we at Lanni Insurance feel that Earthquake Insurance is an important product for homeowners in San Elijo Hills and throughout the county.

It should be noted that condo-owners and renters should also have earthquake insurance since many of the buildings decimated in the Northridge earthquake were apartment buildings.

You can buy your CEA policy through Lanni Insurance or through your local insurance agent if he or she is appointed to sell it.

Thank you to San Elijo Life for the great question!