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New Madrid Quake Cost = $110 Billion Impact Today AIR Reports

December 22, 2011

A report from catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide notes that “this month marks the 200th Anniversary of the first in a series of large earthquakes that took place in the heartland of the United States in the winter of 1811/1812.”

To mark the anniversary AIR has released a report entitled, “,” which describes the research community’s current understanding of what happened and outlines the financial implications of a recurrence.

200 years ago the countryside around New Madrid “was very sparsely populated,” AIR said. Therefore the new report “addresses the likelihood of a similar event happening today鈥攁nd what the impact is likely to be.

“The USGS estimates that there is a seven to ten percent chance that an event like this one 鈥攖hat is, an earthquake having a magnitude of 7.0 or more鈥攃ould occur in this region within the next 50 years.

“In fact, if the events of 200 years ago were to happen today, AIR estimates that expected insured losses to residential, commercial and industrial buildings and contents would be on the order of $110 billion.

Source: AIR Worldwide

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Latest Comments

  • December 22, 2011 at 2:45 pm
    Citizen Kane says:
    Forget the $110 billion in property damage. Most of the structures are not built to any earthquake standard, bodily injuries and death will exceed the property damage. In San ... read more
  • December 22, 2011 at 2:01 pm
    Sue Smith says:
    BWM, I agree. What would the total damage be? How about the dam, lock and levee system on the Mississippi? And the loss of navigation on the river for how long?????? And the N... read more
  • December 22, 2011 at 1:04 pm
    BWM says:
    This story would be a lot more meaningful if it also included an estimate of the value of all damage, not just insured damage -- particularly considering that many homeowners ... read more

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