When looking at photos of a destroyed San Francisco in 1906, the question inevitably arises as to whether the insurance industry is financially capable of surviving a similar earthquake in today's Bay Area.
A quake equal to 1906's 7.9-to-8.3 magnitude striking the San Francisco Bay Area today could cause over $200 billion in losses–with as much as $60 billion of that insured, according to a report by Swiss Re.
An even higher assessment was delivered by AIR Worldwide Corp., a risk modeling firm based in Boston, which said a recurrence of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake would result in almost $80 billion of insured property losses, based on total property losses exceeding $300 billion.
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