Tag: tsunami warning

M 7.3 Earthquake Strikes Off Japan; Little Damage Reported: AIR

Guest Author
Insurance industry News

BOSTON, Dec. 7, 2012 – According to catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide, a magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck off the northeast coast of Japan today, 270 kilometers from the Japanese city of Sendai, at 18:18:24 local time. The event struck in the same plate boundary region impacted by last year’s devastating M 9.0 Tohoku earthquake, although that quake’s epicenter was about 150 kilometers closer to mainland Japan. According to AIR, given the distance of this event from shore, only minimal non-structural damage is expected, and insured losses are not expected to…

Read More

Strong Earthquake Strikes Western Costa Rica

Guest Author
Costa Rica Earthquake

According to catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide, at 8:42 AM local time this morning (14:42 UTC), a magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck a sparsely populated region of western Costa Rica approximately 150 km west of San José , the nation’s capital and largest city (approximate population 365,800 as of 2006). The earthquake, initially estimated at a magnitude of 7.9, struck at a depth of 40 kilometers. Though the size of the quake prompted the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center to issue a tsunami warning for Pacific coastlines of Costa Rica, Nicaragua and…

Read More

Magnitude 7.6 Earthquake in Philippines; Triggers Tsunami Warnings

Guest Author
Earthquake in Philippines

BOSTON, Aug. 31, 2012 – According to catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide, a major earthquake struck off the town of Guiuan (population 44,000) in Samar province at 12:47 UTC today. The USGS had initially issued a magnitude of 7.9 for the event but later downgraded the estimate to 7.6. Depth is issued at 34.9 kilometers. Because today’s event occurred off the coast of Philippines and take-up rates in the affected region are low, insured losses resulting from this event are expected to be minimal. According to AIR, Immediately after the…

Read More

Magnitude 8.6 Earthquake Off Sumatra Triggers Tsunami Warning But Causes Little Damage

Guest Author

BOSTON, April 11, 2012 – According to catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide, this morning, a M8.6 earthquake struck off the west coast of Northern Sumatra, approximately 434 km southwest of Banda Aceh, the closest population center. According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the earthquake occurred at 2:38 PM local time (8:38:37 UTC) and struck at a depth of 22.9 kilometers. The main shock was followed by a series of moderate aftershocks until a little more than two hours later, when a M8.2 aftershock struck 618 km south-southwest of…

Read More

Strong Earthquake Strikes Central Chile; No Tsunami or Significant Damage Reported

Guest Author

According to catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide, yesterday evening, a M7.1 earthquake struck central Chile approximately 27 kilometers north-northwest of the city of Talca (approximate population of 200,000). According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the earthquake occurred at 7:37 PM local time (22:37:06 UTC) and struck at a depth of 34.8 kilometers. “The earthquake occurred on the subduction zone that was partially ruptured by the 2010 earthquake; it can therefore be considered another aftershock of the 2010 earthquake,” said Dr. Tao Lai, principal engineer at AIR Worldwide. “It…

Read More