Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Small Earthquake Jolts Northern California
Aug 18 2015 // A short sharp earthquake rattled California’s San Francisco Bay Area, but there are no reports of injuries. The U.S. Geological Survey said the 4.0 magnitude quake struck Monday and was centered just north of...
California Earthquake Authority Prepares to Go into ‘Hyperspace’
Aug 18 2015 // The California Earthquake Authority – the state’s quasi-public earthquake insurance pool – long has had a problem with take-up. Only about 10 percent of homeowners in this most seismically active state actually...
Typhoons Goni & Atsani Moving Toward Taiwan, Japan, Korea: AccuWeather Report
Aug 18 2015 // The AccuWeather Global Weather Center reports that two typhoons, currently located in the Eastern Pacific Ocean will strengthen further in the coming days, as one or both could become super typhoons. Typhoon Goni battered...
Fracking Drives NAIC Earthquake Conversation
Aug 17 2015 // Hydraulic fracturing – the process of extracting oil and gas resources that requires breaking rock through the high-pressured injection of liquid into the ground, popularly known as “fracking” – has caused...
Regulator: Missouri Now Has $100B in Property Uninsured for Quakes
Aug 17 2015 // Angela Nelson, director of the Division of Market Regulation for the Missouri Department of Insurance, said the state now faces an earthquake coverage crisis and that the value of uninsured residential property in the...
Arab Bank Settles Terrorism Financing Claims by U.S. Citizens
Aug 17 2015 // Arab Bank Plc has agreed to settle litigation brought by hundreds of Americans who accused it of facilitating militant attacks in Israel, nearly a year after a U.S. jury found the bank liable. The settlement was confirmed...
Officials: Effort to End Oklahoma’s Earthquakes Will Take Time
Aug 17 2015 // It could take up to another year of research to determine what has caused a recent series of Oklahoma earthquakes and whether the state is doing enough to stop them, officials said. After meeting with members of the...
Hurricane Katrina and the Evolution of Risk Management
Aug 17 2015 // Nearly 10 years ago, wind and storm surges as a result of Hurricane Katrina caused $41 billion in insured losses and $108 billion in total economic losses in the United States. Many of the lawsuits filed as a result of the...
California, Pacific Northwest Schools Get $4M for Earthquake Early Warning Systems
Aug 17 2015 // The U.S. Geological Survey has awarded $4 million to four universities in the Pacific Northwest and California to boost the development of earthquake early warning systems. The University of Washington, the University of...
Oregon City Factors Tsunami Threat Into Expansion Plans
Aug 14 2015 // Seaside, Ore. officials have all the checkboxes ready for planning their expansion, public transportation, affordable housing and of course tsunami preparedness. The Daily Astorian reported that the Planning Commission...
UnipolSai, Willis Capital Confirm Italian Cat Bond for Azzurro Re; 1st in Europe
Aug 14 2015 // UnipolSai Assicurazioni S.p.A. (UnipolSai), a multi-business Italian insurance company of the Unipol Group and Willis Capital Markets & Advisory (WCMA) part of Willis Group Holdings plc, have confirmed the...
Nevada Hit by More Than 5,000 Earthquakes in Past Year
Aug 13 2015 // Seismologists say a year-long swarm of earthquakes in northwest Nevada could be linked to volcanic activity. The University of Nevada’s Reno Nevada Seismological Laboratory announced this week that there have been...
CCRIF Members Complete Enhanced Catastrophe Portfolios for 2015-16
Aug 13 2015 // The 16 Caribbean member governments of CCRIF SPC (formerly the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility), the co-operative association that covers risks from natural catastrophes in the region, announced that they...
Deadline for Applying to Texas Windstorm Insurance Board Nears
Aug 12 2015 // The Texas Department of Insurance is accepting applications for the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association board of directors after the makeup of the board was changed by the 84th Legislature. The deadline for applications...
Second Largest Wildfire Year in History for Alaska
Aug 12 2015 // This summer’s fire season has officially become the second biggest on record in Alaska. More than 5,081,000 acres, or 7,940 square miles, have burned this year. That surpasses the nearly 5.05 million acres burned in...
Arizona Wildfire That Forced Evacuations Now Partial Contained
Aug 11 2015 // A wildfire in Arizona that has grown to more than 6,000 acres and forces hundreds to evacuate is now 40 percent contained, fire officials say. The Willow fire in Mohave Valley is being battled by more than 300 firefighting...
Evacuations Ordered in Southern California Wildfire
Aug 11 2015 // A wildfire in rural Riverside County, Calif. has surged to about 500 acres, forcing evacuations and leaving one person burned and three firefighters with minor injuries. The blaze off State Route 74 near Anza started as a...
California Wildfire That Erupted Near Massive Blaze Expands
Aug 11 2015 // A wildfire that erupted near a destructive blaze in Northern California’s rural, rocky hills expanded farther. The blaze had burned 9 square miles by Monday afternoon, the California Department of Forestry and Fire...
Estimates for 1stHY 2015 Puts Cat Economic Losses at $37 Bn: Swiss Re Study
Aug 11 2015 // A new sigma study from Swiss Re estimates that “total economic losses from natural catastrophes and man-made disasters reached $37 billion in the first half of 2015. The global insurance industry covered nearly 45...
Typhoon Soudelor Hits Taiwan and China with Rains, Floods & Wind: AIR Report
Aug 11 2015 // A report from catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide, states: “Typhoon Soudelor has weakened over eastern China after making landfalls in Saipan, Taiwan, and China. The storm made landfall in Taiwan at 21:00 UTC on...
