Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Morningstar: A Year Later, LA Wildfires Were ‘Significant Stress Event’ for Insurance
Jan 6 2026 // In a report one year on from the Los Angeles area wildfires in 2025, which started on Jan. 7, Morningstar DBS Research issued a perspective that called the fires “a significant stress event” for...
Millions at Risk of Los Angeles-Style Wildfires in Australia
Jan 6 2026 // Millions of people living on the expanding outskirts of Australia’s major cities face an increasing risk of urban wildfires similar to the deadly blazes in Los Angeles last year. Suburbs on the fringes of centers...
Woman Who Lost Home in LA Wildfire Sowed Hope Where Her Home Once Stood
Jan 6 2026 // Missi Dowd-Figueroa brought life back to the fire-ravaged plot where her home once stood—one sunflower at a time. The registered nurse and mother of three lost her 1898 farm-style house in the Eaton Fire, one of two...
Insurance Payments Now at $22.4B From LA Wildfires One Year Ago
Jan 5 2026 // Insurers have paid more than $22.4 billion on tens of thousands of claims from the Los Angles wildfires that broke out a year ago on Jan. 7. The claims data, which comes from the California Department of Insurance, shows...
[Video] Wildfires, Lawsuits, AI, and M&A: A Look Back at Insurance in 2025
Dec 31 2025 // Insurance Journal recaps the biggest stories of 2025—across all of our regions—from record-breaking wildfires and climate losses to broker mega-deals, litigation reform, cyber threats, AI-driven layoffs, and signs of...
QBE Insurance Sponsors US$400M Catastrophe Bond via Bridge Street Program
Dec 30 2025 // QBE Insurance Group announced it has closed a new catastrophe bond, which provides the re/insurer with $400 million of collateralized reinsurance cover for named storms and earthquakes in the US and earthquakes in...
Markets/Coverages: Risksmith Launches New DIC Earthquake Program
Dec 23 2025 // Specialty managing general underwriter Risksmith Insurance Services announced the launch of its new difference in conditions (DIC) earthquake insurance program. Built for large, complex and true excess & surplus...
Rare Weather Warning Issued as Strong Gusts Fuel Colorado Wildfire Threats
Dec 22 2025 // The National Weather Service on Friday issued a rare warning for part of Colorado’s Front Range as hurricane-force winds and tinder dry conditions boosted the threat of wildfire across several counties, while flood...
Catastrophe Bonds Linked to Wildfires Lose ‘Untouchable’ Status
Dec 19 2025 // Alternative investment managers are starting to take a serious interest in catastrophe bonds tied to wildfires, moving into a risk category that just a few years ago was seen as too difficult to model. More than $5 billion...
People Moves: Markel Int’l Taps AXIS’ Howell as Senior War and Terrorism Underwriter; Tokio Marine Kiln Appoints Jackson From Liberty as Cyber Underwriter
Dec 18 2025 // This edition of International People Moves details appointments at Markel Insurance and Tokio Marine Kiln. A summary of these new hires follows here. Markel Int’l Taps AXIS’ Howell as Senior War and Terrorism...
Risksmith Launches New Earthquake Program for Hard-to-Place Property Risks
Dec 17 2025 // ATLANTA, G.A. (Dec. 17, 2025) – Risksmith Insurance Services, a specialty Managing General Underwriter (MGU) known for its expertise across the E&S property landscape, today announced the launch of its new Difference...
Texas Sues Utility Company Xcel Over ‘Blatant Negligence’ in Fatal Wildfire
Dec 17 2025 // Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Xcel Energy Inc., accusing the utility company of “blatant negligence” over its role in the Smokehouse Creek wildfire that killed three people and caused more than $1...
California Again Delays Wildfire Protection Rules for Homes
Dec 10 2025 // A California state agency won’t meet Gov. Gavin Newsom’s year-end deadline to finish long-delayed regulations to protect homes from wildfires, rules that experts say could have limited the destruction of the...
Japan Removes Tsunami Warnings After Powerful Quake in North
Dec 9 2025 // Japanese authorities ended all tsunami warnings after a powerful magnitude-7.5 quake struck off the coast of Aomori, in the northeast of the country, late on Monday. Waves as high as 70 cm (28 inches) were recorded in the...
Magnitude-7.0 Earthquake Hit Remote Area Along Alaska-Canada Border
Dec 8 2025 // A powerful, magnitude-7.0 earthquake struck in a remote area near the border between Alaska and the Canadian territory of Yukon on Saturday. There was no tsunami warning, and officials said there were no immediate reports...
Will it Take a Catastrophe for Nations to Take Issue of Space Debris Seriously?
Dec 5 2025 // China routinely sends astronauts to and from its space station Tiangong. A crew capsule is about to undock from the station and return to Earth, but there’s nothing routine about its journey home. The Shenzhou-20...
Arizona Study Group Issues Report on Homeowners Insurance and Wildfire Risk
Dec 5 2025 // A report from a regulator-created group found that a multifaceted approach to addressing wildfires and lack of insurance affordability in Arizona should be tackled with a multifaceted approach that includes homeowners,...
Report Asks Washington Lawmakers to Require Insurers to Better Track Wildfire Risk
Dec 3 2025 // A working group on wildfires in Washington wants the state Legislature to consider requiring insurers to internally track instances in which wildfire risk materially contributes to a policy nonrenewal, cancellation or...
A 6.0-Magnitude Earthquake Hit Anchorage Area on Thanksgiving
Dec 1 2025 // A 6.0-magnitude earthquake rocked the Anchorage metropolitan area Thursday morning, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The quake struck at about 8:11 a.m. local time at a depth of 69 kilometers (43 miles), according...
How ‘Super Roofs’ Reward Insurers, Cat Bond Investors and Homeowners
Dec 1 2025 // As the Trump administration stalls federal funding for projects intended to make states more resilient to climate change and private insurers decline to cover properties in high-risk zones, North Carolina just proved...
