PERILS has placed the final loss estimate for the 2016 October earthquake series in central Italy at U.S. $245.6 million, nearly double its January loss estimate of U.S. $146 million, which was issued three months after the event.
The three major earthquakes with moment magnitudes of Mw 5.4, 5.9 and 6.5 according to the Italian Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, impacted the regions of Lazio, Marche and Umbria, affecting many of areas which had been struck just two months earlier by the Mw 6.0 earthquake of 24rth August 2016.
The Italian Civil Protection Agency estimates the economic losses from the October earthquake series at $19.5 billion.
Based on the PERILS loss estimate of $245.6 million released today, this means that just 1.3% of the overall economic loss was insured.
For comparison, the insured loss of the 24 August earthquake, which affected a similar area, amounted to $127.5 million or 1.5% of total estimated economic costs of $8.38 billion.
The differences in the ratios of insured versus economic losses can be attributed to the significant variation in earthquake insurance penetration across Italy – the world’s 5th biggest economy – still vastly underinsured to cover the natural disaster risks it faces.
