Catastrophe Reports

Pisco Peru Earthquake
August 15, 2007 - Central Peru
A magnitude 8.0 subduction earthquake shook Central Peru on August 15, 2007, at 6:41 PM local time. The epicenter was located offshore, 30 miles west of Chincha Alta, about 95 miles south of Lima, at a depth of 24 miles. Approximately 600 people were killed, primarily due to the collapse of adobe structures.

Niigata Chuetsu Earthquake
July 2007 - Niigata-prefecture, Japan
On July 16, 2007 a major earthquake (Mjma = 6.8) occurred offshore, north of the Niigata-prefecture. The earthquake epicenter was located at latitude 37.5 degrees and longitude 138.6 (60 kilometers southwest of Niigata), which depth is 17 kilomters.

Flash Report on the Noto Hanto Earthquake
March 2007 - Noto Peninsula, Japan
On March 25, 2007, an Earthquake with the magnitude of 6.9 (Mjma) occurred in Ishikawa Prefecture, located about 300km NW from Tokyo. The epicenter was located at 37.13N, 136.41E, and the depth of the seismic source was 11km below the ground surface.

Andaman-Nicobar Earthquake
December 2004 - Southeast Asia
ABS Consulting sent a reconnaissance team to investigate the devastation caused by the tsunami in Southeast Asia. Its findings and conclusions following the investigation are located in its Andaman-Nicobar Earthquake Report.

Niigata Chuetsu Earthquake
October 2004 - Tokyo, Japan
On October 23, 2004, an earthquake with a Magnitude of 6.8 occurred in Niigata, which is located about 200 kilometers NNW of Tokyo. The epicenter was located at N37.17, E138.52. According to a report issued by the Fire and Disaster Management Agency on October 29, 35 people were killed, 3,183 people were injured, approximately 6,000 buildings were destroyed or damaged and at least 1,300 landslides occurred.

Southern California Wildfires of 2003
2003 - California, USA
The metropolitan areas in southern California, stretching from Los Angeles to San Diego, have expanded in recent decades to the edges of the wildland, and in many cases, even intermingled with the forest areas, creating fire-prone zones known as the wildland-urban interface.

The 2003 Tokachi-oki Earthquake
September 2003 - Hokkaido, Japan
A severe earthquake struck Hokkaido, Japan, at 4:50 a.m. on September 26, 2003. Epicenter of the earthquake was about 80km east-southeast of Erimo Cape, offshore of Tokachi.

Report Into the Storm "Jeanette"
October 2002 - Europe
The storm "Jeanette" moved across the west coast of Ireland in the early hours of October 27th, and during the following day moved across northern England, the North Sea, Denmark and into Sweden.

Central European Flooding
August 2002 - Europe
The flood event was triggered by unusual, but not exceptional, meteorological conditions. Two rain-bearing depressions (Vb category of European cyclones) crossed Europe in close succession during the first half of August.

Seattle (Nisqually), Washington Earthquake
February 2001 - Washington, USA
At 10:55 a.m. local time, Wednesday February 28, 2001, a magnitude 6.98 (Mw 6.8) earthquake struck Western Washington State. The epicenter was located approximately 11 miles (18km) northeast of Olympia, Washington, the capital, and approximately 36 miles (58km) southwest of Seattle.

Activity at Usu Volcano, Hokkaido, Japan
March 2000 - Hokkaido, Japan
Mt. Usu is a stratovolcano located on Hokkaido, Japan. It lies at the southernmost extent of the Kurile Trench and formed as a result of the subduction of the Pacific plate beneath the Eurasian plate.

The European Storms Lothar and Martin
December 1999 - Europe
Free of major storm damage since 1990, northwestern Europe was battered by two large Extra-Tropical Cyclones after Christmas 1999. With hurricane force windspeeds, Lothar and Martin tore through southern England, France, southern Germany, Switzerland, Austria, northern Italy and northern Spain.

Chichi, Taiwan Earthquake
September 1999 - Chichi, Taiwan
An earthquake of magnitude 7.6 occurred in Taiwan at 1:47 a.m. on September 21, 1999. The epicenter was approximately 7km NW of Chichi, a small town bordering a mountainous resort area, located 155km from Taipei, the capital.

Izmit, Turkey Earthquake
August 1999 - Izmit, Turkey
A 45-second earthquake of Richter magnitude 7.4 (M7.4) occurred in Turkey on Tuesday, August 17, 1999 at 3:01 a.m. local time. The epicenter was approximately seven miles (11km) southeast of Izmit, an industrial city approximately 56 miles (90km) east of Istanbul.

Western Washington Earthquake
July 1999 - Washington, USA
At 6:44 p.m. local time on Friday, July 2, 1999, a magnitude (Mm) 5.9 earthquake shook parts of western Washington State. The epicenter was located approximately 68 miles southwest of Seattle and approximately five miles north of Satsop, Washington.

Puerto Rico: Damage Investigation of Hurricane Georges
September 1998 - Puerto Rico
Hurricane Georges wove its path of destruction through the Caribbean, killing an estimated 465 people before making its way to the Floriday Keys and US mainland. Most of the deaths were reported from storm-related flooding, especially in the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

Typhoon Paka
December 1997 - Guam & Philippines
On Tuesday, December 16, 1997, Typhoon Paka, with peak gust wind speeds of 240 mph, the highest wind speeds ever recorded over land, swept across the island of Guam. Typhoon Paka made landfall at approximately 7 p.m. local time.

Kobe Earthquake
January 1995 - Kobe, Japan
This report summarizes the effects of the Kobe Earthquake, one of the costliest natural disasters in history. Immediately after the main shock, an earthquake reconnaisance team from EQE went to the affected region to evaluate the effects of the earthquake and to assess the extent and causes of damage to structures and infrastructure before critical evidence was removed.

Major Wind Storms of 1995
1995 - International Storms
Nineteen ninety-five was the most active hurricane season in the Atlantic in 60 years, producing 19 named storms. The Pacific storm season was so active that forecasters used up their alphabet of names and started over again at Angela, the 27th storm of the season and the 14th major storm to hit the Philippines.

Northridge, California Earthquake
January 1994 - California, USA
At 4:31 a.m., Pacific Standard Time, on Monday, January 17, a moderate but very damaging earthquake with a moment magnitude (Mw) of 6.7 struck the densely populated San Fernando Valley, in northern Los Angeles. This region has been repeatedly rocked by moderate to large earthquakes throughout recorded history.

The Southern California Wildfires of 1993
1993 - California, USA
The 7,000-square-mile Los Angeles metropolitan region is surrounded on three sides by mountains, creating the Los Angeles Basin, which is home to about 14 million people. An important aspect of basin topography is a condition known as the Santa Ana winds — hot, dry high winds that blow from the eastern high desert regions over the mountains into the basin.

Hurricanes Andrew and Iniki
August 1992 - South Florida and Hawaii, USA
On August 24, Hurricane Andrew hit south Florida, resulting in the destruction of 85,000 dwelling units and buildings — $15 billion to $20 billion in property values — leaving hundreds of thousands of people homeless. By these measures, Hurricane Andrew is the worst US natural disaster since the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake.

The Landers and Big Bear Earthquakes
June 1992 - South Florida and Hawaii, USA
On Sunday, June 28, 1992, at 4:58 a.m. the most powerful US earthquake in 40 years rumbled through southern California. It was the largest earthquake in California since 1952 and the second largest since 1906.

The Cape Mendocino Earthquakes
April 1992 - California, USA
On April 25 and 26, 1992, three earthquakes of major importance to the study of earthquake engineering occurred in the Cape Mendocino area of northwest California. Records at Cape Mendocino indicate that the intitial shock produced the largest ground motion ever recorded in California.

Fire in the East Bay Hills
October 1991 - California, USA
The October conflageration in Oakland, California, showed how quickly a fire — particularly one where urban or suburban development encroaches on wildlands — can grow to devastating proportions. This article, written one week after the event, takes a preliminary look at the fire and some of the lessons to be learned.

Philippines Earthquake
July 1990 - Philippines
On Monday, July 16, 1990, at 4:26 p.m. local time, the heavily populated island of Luzon, Republic of the Philippines, was struck by an earthquake of magnitude 7.7. This was the most recent in a long history of severe earthquakes that strike the nation of islands at about 10-year intervals.

Newcastle Earthquake
December 1989 - Newcastle, Australia
At 10:27 a.m. on Thursday, December 28, 1989 the first fatal earthquake in Australia's history struck the city of Newcastle and the surrounding Hunter Valley region of New South Wales (NSW). The epicenter of the 5.5 Richter magnitude tremblor was estimated to be only 5km west of the city center.

Loma Prieta Earthquake
October 1989 - California, USA
At 5:04 p.m., Tuesday, October 17, 1989, as over 62,000 fans filled Candlestick Park for the third game of the World Series and the San Francisco Bay Area commute moved into its heaviest flow, a Richter magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck. It was an emergency palnner's worst-case scenario.

Armenia, USSR Earthquake
December 1988 - Armenia, USSR
On December 7, 1988 at 11:41 a.m. local time, a powerful earthquake struck northwest Armenia, a Soviet republic with 3.5 million people. Armenia occupies approximately 30,000 square kilometers in the southern Caucasus Mountains, generally considered the boundary between Europe and Asia.

Summary of the 1987 Bay of Plenty, New Zealand Earthquake
March 1987 - Bay of Plenty, New Zealand
On March, 2, 1987 at 1:43 p.m. a Richter magnitude 6.2 (M6.2) earthquake struck the eastern Bay of Plenty region of North Island, New Zealand. The earthquake was preceded at 1:36 p.m. by a M5.2 foreshock and followed at 1:52 p.m. by a M5.2 aftershock.

Note: EQECAT, Inc.,an ABS Group company, serves the global property and casualty insurance industry, major multinational corporations and financial institutions. EQECAT is known as the technical leader and innovator in the development of analysis tools and methodologies to quantify insurers' and major corporations' exposure to natural and manmade catastrophic risk.