Everyone has a story to tell today about this
morningâ??s earthquake, which came from West Salem, Ill., and measured 5.4 on the Richter scale. People were awakened.
Things
moved.
This quake was a piker compared to the devastation the New Madrid fault could throw at us. That fault, which runs along the eastern edge of Missouriâ??s bootheel, is thought to have produced three to five quakes in 1811 and 1812, with at least one measuring above 8 on the Richter scale.
Hard to believe, maybe, but they are said to have rang church bells in Boston and cracked Washington, D.C., sidewalks.
Seismologists say it could happen again. Yet, who knows how far in the future that might be?
Is it worth the expense for businesses and homeowners in this part of the country to carry extra insurance?
This quake was a piker compared to the devastation the New Madrid fault could throw at us. That fault, which runs along the eastern edge of Missouriâ??s bootheel, is thought to have produced three to five quakes in 1811 and 1812, with at least one measuring above 8 on the Richter scale.
Hard to believe, maybe, but they are said to have rang church bells in Boston and cracked Washington, D.C., sidewalks.
Seismologists say it could happen again. Yet, who knows how far in the future that might be?
Is it worth the expense for businesses and homeowners in this part of the country to carry extra insurance?
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While thousands of earthquakes happen every year in the U.S. (primarily in the western states, Alaska and Hawaii), only a small percentage of them actually register over 5 on the Richter scale. Was this a minor quake compared to, say, the Northridge quake in California a few years back or the New Madrid events mentioned in the article? Absolutely. But a quake measuring over 5 would best be described as MODERATE, not minor.
Also, it should be noted that a quake measuring 5.2 in Indiana would most likely cause much more damage than if it had occured someplace in California for a couple of reasons. One, unlike California, where quakes are a relatively regular occurence, most buildings and infrastructure haven't been built (historically) to resist the stresses of a major geological event. Secondly, due to the fact that there are relatively few faults (stress relievers) in the midwest as compared to California, any quake here would likely cause much more intense movement. It is just the nature of geology. (Note the fact that this quake DID cause damage in Louisville AND Indianapolis, both hundreds of miles from the epicenter.)
Earthquake insurance is a fairly inexpensive option to the traditional coverage that most homeowners would normally carry anyway. I think that the benfits of that additional coverage would FAR outweigh the expense.
You must be an insurance agent. 5.2 is a MINOR earthquake. There WAS NOT any serious damage reported near the epicenter, let alone here... and dishes being broken doesn't count as serious damage. So, you need to check your information again.
So, my question for you is, which do you sell... State Farm, Nationwide, Allstate, etc.?