(This post now include a video of the presentation given at RIMS 2011–definitely worth a view)

Zurich held a press conference this morning regarding a topic that has been in recent news more time than we would like — earthquakes. In “Epicenter Pacific Coast,” three CEOs from Zurich and one geologist from Simon Fraser University discussed the risk of a major earthquake in the United States and what can be done to prepare for such an event.

Mike Kerner, CEO of Zurich Global Corporate in North America, stressed the importance that individuals and companies in the States know:

• Their exposures, and all of them
• Are informed of risk engineering
• Acknowledge that traditional policies may not cover all losses
• What you can’t mitigate, insure
• Understand specific policy terms (for example, the definition of “tsunami”)

Brent Ward, quaternary geologist professor, discussed the “ring of fire” that is known for being an earthquake hotspot — approximately 90% of all earthquakes occur in the ring of fire.

Ward stated that the Pacific Northwest, which lies within the ring of fire zone, has a similar configuration as that of Japan and Chile, where two of the worst earthquakes in history have recently struck.

“On average, a major earthquake of 9.0 magnitude or greater only happens every 500 to 600 years in the United States, but when it happens, it’s going to be bad,” Ward said.

Following Ward, Mike Foley, CEO of Zurich North America Commercial, mentioned the frequency with which the world has experienced horrific natural disasters, especially in the populated ring of fire area. “Four of the five costliest quakes in the past 30 years occurred in the last 13 months along the ring of fire,” Foley said.

“While we can’t predict, we can prepare.”