Earthquake Insurance, earthquake repairs or retrofitting?

We live in earthquake country! The Puget Sound is crisscrossed with several major faults. California and Alaska are the only locations more hazardous. Experts are in agreement that one or more of these hazards could go off at any time - it is really "when" not "if". What YOU do to prepare is vital. Doing nothing is not a reasonable option, especially if your home was built prior to 1975. Earthquake insurance is expensive and it will not prevent your home and property from being destroyed. An even less attractive scenario is going through a major seismic event without earthquake insurance. Your property is destroyed and you have no financial recovery path. You are living in a shelter with several thousand of your neighbors for months on end. Now consider an earthquake retrofit. The costs are one-time (unlike earthquake insurance), damage is prevented in lieu of repaired, and you may find that future earthquake insurance premiums are reduced. Check with your insurance agent - some companies no longer offer earthquake insurance at any price. Want to know what a retrofit will cost? Call now. Consultation/Estimate is FREE!

 

South Whidbey Fault
has potential for major quake

"This discovery is providing us with the architecture to send geologists out to see what these faults really mean. ... now we are more certain of its potential danger.", said Craig Weaver of the U.S. Geological Survey at the University of Washington. By Gale Fiege, Herald Writer, The Everett Herald

In the Puget Sound area prior to the 1970s, the majority of residences were built to withstand only one type of force or load as the engineers call it -- the force of gravity. Of course, that's an up-and-down force. Unfortunately, the most damaging component of earthquake forces is from side to side, producing what engineers call a lateral load. Therefore, older buildings that were adequately built to resist up and down forces might collapse under the lateral stresses of some earthquakes. When dealing with conventional wood-framed residential structures, there are three basic types of lateral failure, and as a result there are three different needs in seismic reinforcement or retrofitting. The City of Seattle estimates that there are over 250,000 that are in this condition. They have classes for homeowners to learn to do the work themselves or acquaint themselves with the process before they hire a FEMA trained contractor. They also have designed a proscriptive solution to allow the work on some houses to be done without the services of a structural engineer. Please see more in the "What is Retrofitting " section of this site.