Local news: Earthquake insurance coverage low despite risks (3/20/23)

Sen. Jason Bean, as well as city and county officials from across Southeast Missouri, gathered for the 2023 earthquake summit in Portageville. (DAR/Donna Farley)

PORTAGEVILLE, Missouri – The cost of earthquake insurance has increased 352% in Southeast Missouri since 2000. This is in an area where building codes often struggle to meet the latest damage prevention measures for a larger earthquake.

However, the cost of insurance is still not astronomical, according to Dr. J. Brian Houston of the University of Missouri’s Community Disaster and Crisis Center. Houston was among more than a dozen speakers who delivered Thursday during the 2023 Earthquake Summit held in Portageville, the largest event of its kind in the country.

“The average cost in Cape Girardeau County (for earthquake insurance) is $174 a year,” Houston told more than 400 local, provincial, state and federal officials.

About a third of homeowners recently surveyed in Southeast Missouri counties with a high risk of earthquake damage had earthquake insurance, Houston explained. For renters, the figure is 10% or less.

Presenters from the University of Missouri, the Missouri Department of Commerce and Insurance, the Center for Insurance Policy and Research, and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners spoke about the need to provide additional education about earthquake potential in the New Madrid Earthquake Zone and move the needle in preparedness.

“We’re in a very high-risk area here, where a lot of people may not have the insurance[that]they need to protect their homes,” Houston said.

Counties from Ripley to Cape Girardeau are in the high-risk and highest-damage areas, along with Bootheel and sections of Arkansas, Tennessee, and Illinois along that border.

Less than half of the people surveyed realized that earthquake insurance plans were a separate addition to their basic home or renter insurance, Houston added.

The presenters said that there is a 25-40% chance that an earthquake of magnitude 6 or greater will occur in the northwest region in the next 50 years. Bridging the information gap was part of the hope behind Thursday’s presentation—Huston explained that the more people hear and talk about the possibility of a devastating earthquake with friends, loved ones, or insurance agents, the more likely they are to be prepared.

Thursday’s event helps the district understand how to direct efforts to cities and departments, according to Barry Blevins, City of Sikeston’s director of community development. Blevins’ job is to issue building permits.

In the event of an earthquake, it is believed that the knowledge and connections gained through the summit could help Sikeston more quickly assess damaged buildings and homes.

“(Then) we can get people back on (their property) as quickly as we can,” said Blevins, who was joined at the event by other Sikeston officials, including two fire marshals.

Building codes in Sikeston, like other Southeast Missouri communities, are directed by the International Building Code.

Earthquake risk information and awareness can help guide how these building codes progress, according to Blevins, who noted that the cost of building under more stringent earthquake standards would be “astronomical.”

It’s something that has to be weighed against the ability of businesses and homeowners in Southeast Missouri to do new construction, he explained.

Blevins added that the information and relationships formed during the summit can also help communities prepare for other natural disasters. For Sikeston, flooding is a concern, along with managing rain drainage systems and building along flood planes.

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