Although the Seattle earthquake was a significant event for the insurance industry, it could have been much worse. If the event had occurred on the Seattle fault, or had been shallow like the 1994 Northridge earthquake in California, it easily could have been one of the larger insured losses for the U.S. industry in the last decade. In fact, a 7.0 event on the earthquake fault could result in $8 billion to $10 billion of insured losses, and more than $45 billion in total damage. For comparison, the insured losses for the 1994 Northridge and 1989 Loma Prieta earthquakes were $14 billion and $1.4 billion, respectively.
The estimated insured loss for this earthquake is expected to be $500 million to $800 million, excluding governmental facilities.
