Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Earthquake Seminars To Hit the West Coast This Month
Feb 1 2001 // This month, Applied Insurance Research Inc., a Boston-based catastrophe modeling firm, will be offering free seminars in Seattle, Los Angeles and San Francisco to demonstrate a new site-specific risk assessment capability...
Insurers 2000 Cat Losses Total $4.3 Billion, 53 Percent Below 10-Year Average
Jan 24 2001 // U.S. property/casualty insurers paid $4.3 billion in catastrophe claims, making 2000 the second-lowest year for catastrophe losses in the last 10, according to estimates by Insurance Services Office’s Property Claim...
Calif. Earthquake Authority Selects Financial Modeler
Jan 17 2001 // As the California Earthquake Authority continues its strategic planning process, its most recent step was to select Paratus Consulting, a newly founded San Francisco-based consultancy, as its financial modeler. Paratus...
PIFC Looks Back on the Seven Years Since the Northridge Quake
Jan 17 2001 // Exactly seven years ago to the day, America experienced its most costly insurance disaster as the Northridge earthquake rumbled through California, killing 60 people and destroying or damaging thousands of homes,...
Swiss Re Gives Preliminary Catastrophe Figures For 2000
Jan 11 2001 // Swiss Re published the following preliminary estimates of the losses caused by natural and man-made catastrophes in the year 2000: 17,000 lives were lost, direct losses were around $38 billion, and $11 billion in insured...
Welcome to our First Ever
Jan 8 2001 // The demarcation between years always seems to take on a contemplative aspect. We look back to where we’ve been, and then look forward to weigh our expectations. Will the market continue to harden? Will the dot-coms...
Northridge Earthquake Class Action Suit Filed Against 21st Century
Jan 4 2001 // A class action lawsuit was filed Tuesday against 21st Century Insurance Co. on behalf of policyholders who filed timely property damage claims stemming from the 1994 Northridge earthquake but whose claims were mishandled,...
Gray Predicts Relatively Quiet 2001 Hurricane Season
Dec 8 2000 // After six years that set a record for Atlantic Basin tropical storms and hurricane activity, William Gray and his associates at Colorado State University are calling for a season slightly below the long-term average. For...
Arrowhead Adds New Senior V.P. to Earthquake Division
Dec 5 2000 // San Diego-based Arrowhead General Insurance Agency Inc. announced that Steve Bouker joined the company as senior vice president of the newly formed Residential Earthquake Division. Bouker, who was previously with Pacific...
AGF To Issue Wind/Earthquake Cat Bonds
Nov 23 2000 // AGF/IART, a unit of AGF the French arm of Germany’s Allianz, will issue natural catastrophe securities covering windstorm damages in France and earthquake risks in Europe through Mediterranean Re, a special purpose...
RMS, Japanese Partner Complete Cat Exposure Model
Nov 17 2000 // Menlo Park based, Risk Management Solutions (RMS) and its Japanese partner OYO Corporation announced that their joint venture, OYO RMS, has completed “a detailed natural hazard risk analysis for the National Mutual...
Future of Calif. Earthquake Authority Remains Hot Topic of Debate
Oct 31 2000 // Treasurer Phil Angelides has indicated recently that he has some concerns about the stability of the California Earthquake Authority. He made his fears public Oct. 26, sending out a letter to lawmakers calling for a...
Third-Quarter Catastrophe Losses Hit Record Low
Oct 30 2000 // U.S. property/casualty insurers recently received good news from the Insurance Services Office Inc.’s (ISO) Property Claim Services (PCS) unit. Third-quarter insured catastrophe losses registered at $315...
Third-Quarter Catastrophes Cost $315 Million; Lowest Amount in 11 Years
Oct 18 2000 // U.S. property/casualty insurers will pay homeowners and businesses $315 million for insured catastrophe losses – the lowest third-quarter amount in 11 years beginning 1990, estimates Insurance Services Office,...
S&P Confirms Earthquake Didn’t Trigger Japanese Cat Bonds
Oct 10 2000 // While the earthquake which struck Western Japan last week was very strong, measuring 7.3 on the Japanese Meteorological Agency scale, it was extremely deep, and the epicenter was far from a major population center –...
7.1 Earthquake Jolts Japan
Oct 6 2000 // An earthquake measuring 7.1 on the Richter Scale jolted southwestern Japan in the early afternoon Friday, but early reports indicate it caused only moderate damage. According to the BBC, the quake, which lasted about 40...
Calif. Sits on Epicenter of National Quake Survey
Oct 2 2000 // According to the first national survey of earthquake risks, 75 percent of all losses are expected to occur in California. But quakes are not a problem for just the Golden State, as the study shows that other areas of the...
Industry Tallies Ohio Tornado Losses
Sep 28 2000 // The combined damage caused by a tornado that ripped through Xenia, Ohio Sept. 20 and storms in several other counties, has been estimated at more than $33 million in insured losses, according to the the Ohio Insurance...
Hundreds of Homeowners Awarded Earthquake Retrofit Grants
Sep 13 2000 // Acting Insurance Commissioner J. Clark Kelso announced the award of 429 new earthquake retrofit grants to low- to moderate-income California homeowners in Fresno, Kern, Kings, Los Angeles, San Bernadino, San Mateo and...
Typhoon Rains Paralyze Japan
Sep 12 2000 // Extremely heavy rains caused by Typhoon Saomai hit central Japan, causing widespread destruction and four deaths. A record 9.3 cms. (more than 3 1/ inches) fell in an hour, paralyzing transport and forcing thousands to...
