Secondary hazards: the side effects of earthquakes

2017-09-20 | Editor : houguangbing

If an earthquake strikes your home, the dangers go beyond the violent shaking of the ground. Earthquakes have secondary hazards, serious side effects that can be more dangerous than the quake itself. It is vital to know how much risk your home faces from secondary hazards for two reasons. First, preparing for them requires taking action beyond simply preparing for an earthquake. Second, in most cases, damage caused by secondary hazards is not covered by earthquake insurance. For example, earthquake insurance would cover a window shattered by an earthquake's shaking, but not a window shattered by a rockslide caused by an earthquake's shaking. In that case, you would need separate insurance that specifically covered rockslide damage.

You should evaluate your property to find out how much risk you face from some common secondary hazards:

Tsunamis:

Pacific Tsunami Warning Center;

Indian Tsunami Early Warning Centre;

Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Centre.

Landslides:

NASA: Global Landslide Risks;

TRMM Potential Landslide Areas;

Liquefaction:

ABAG Liquefaction Maps and Information;

Floods:

OpenHazards Hazard Viewer;