Notable events include the February 1995 earthquake afflicting Paphos and Nicosia and the October 1996 event causing losses in Paphos and Limassol.

Local insurance companies have lobbied for a model that is up to date and provides realistic results to assess their exposures, Aon says.

In response, the Impact Forecasting team worked to create a model in collaboration with Professor Carydis at the National Technical University of Athens and his team of civil and structural engineers and seismologists.

The research characterized the following components of the model:

• Potential seismic sources in Cyprus that constitute an event-set of over 10,000 earthquake scenarios, both onshore and offshore.
• The vulnerability of Cypriot building stock by various engineering metrics including construction class, age and seismic zone, as well as geographical distribution.

 "Cypriot insurers are increasingly turning to catastrophe models to help determine their reinsurance purchases," Alexander Turner, deputy chief executive officer of Aon Benfield Greece notes in a statement. "We have been able to support this trend by providing the new earthquake model, in addition to demonstrating the value of other analytical technology such as our dynamic financial analysis tools."