The insurance industry has not always benefited fully from research into earthquake hazards, claimed earthquake expert Dr Martin Degg during an International Underwriting Association (IUA) market briefing.
He said many insurers felt the information available to them about earthquake risks was inadequate, despite their increasing exposure to natural disasters.
Degg claimed academic research on earthquake hazards was not always presented in a manner accessible to insurers.
Degg said the IUA's research project, which has produced a series of earthquake Hazard Atlases, had made information about earthquake risks more accessible to the insurance industry.
The Hazard Atlases are designed as a reference tool for underwriters, said the IUA, with the aim of the project being to initiate new research in response to the industry's demands. The reports, which cover specific geographical areas, also address secondary threats associated with earthquakes, such as tsunamis.
Degg said the rising rate of exposure was largely due to the huge growth of urbanisation during the latter part of the 20th Century.
"Insurers were finding themselves faced with the prospect of taking on more business in parts of the world for which they had limited information about exposure to natural hazards," added Degg.
"The Hazard Atlas is about taking the information, predicting the hazard and presenting it all in a way that is useful and accessible," he said.
