A decade after a devastating magnitude-9.0 earthquake struck Japan, the U.S. remains largely uninsured against this natural disaster, according to the Insurance Information Institute (Triple-I).
Nearly 16,000 people died after the costliest earthquake and tsunami in world history hit Japan on March 11, 2011, about 230 miles northeast of Tokyo.
Since then, the U.S. has been spared quakes anywhere near that magnitude yet California’s 2019 Ridgecrest quake and 2014’s South Napa earthquake highlighted its vulnerability to earth movement.
‘The potential cost of U.S. earthquakes has been growing because of increasing development in seismically active areas and the vulnerability of many older buildings,’ said Janet Ruiz, the California-based Director, Strategic Communications, Triple-I.