Here's something that surprises most homeowners: your standard homeowners insurance won't pay a dime if an earthquake damages your house. Not a single crack in the foundation, not a collapsed chimney, not your shattered belongings. When the ground starts shaking, your regular policy stays silent. That's where earthquake insurance comes in—and if you live anywhere near a fault line, it's worth understanding what it actually covers and whether you need it.
Why Your Homeowners Insurance Won't Help
Earthquake damage is explicitly excluded from standard homeowners, renters, and business insurance policies. Insurance companies learned this lesson the hard way after catastrophic quakes in the past century. The potential losses from a major earthquake are so massive that they can't be bundled into regular policies—they require separate coverage with their own pricing and risk calculations.
There's one exception worth noting: if an earthquake triggers a fire that damages your home, your homeowners policy will cover the fire damage. Same goes for water damage from burst pipes caused by the quake. But the actual earthquake damage—the cracked walls, broken foundation, collapsed structure—that's on you unless you have earthquake coverage.
What Earthquake Insurance Actually Covers
Earthquake insurance protects you from the ground-shaking damage that could leave you financially devastated. Here's what it typically covers:
Your dwelling gets the primary protection. If your home suffers structural damage—think foundational cracks, broken walls, or complete collapse—earthquake insurance pays to repair or rebuild it. This is the core of your coverage and usually represents the largest portion of your policy limit.
Your belongings are covered too. That means your furniture, electronics, clothing, and other personal property damaged in the quake. If your flat-screen TV crashes to the floor or your china cabinet topples over, you're protected up to your policy's personal property limit.
Additional living expenses come into play when your home becomes unlivable. If you need to move into a hotel or rental while repairs happen, earthquake insurance covers those costs. You're still making mortgage payments on a house you can't live in, so this coverage prevents complete financial disaster.
Most policies also include debris removal—hauling away the rubble so rebuilding can begin. Some policies, like those from California's CEA, include building code upgrade coverage, giving you up to $10,000 to meet newer, stricter building codes when you rebuild.
What earthquake insurance doesn't cover matters just as much. Landscaping, swimming pools, fences, and separate structures like detached garages often aren't included. And here's a critical point: if an earthquake triggers flooding, you need separate flood insurance. Earthquake policies won't cover water damage from tsunamis, dam failures, or other flood events caused by seismic activity.
The Cost Reality: Premiums and Deductibles
Let's talk money, because earthquake insurance isn't cheap—and the deductibles will surprise you. Nationally, homeowners pay an average of $800 per year for earthquake coverage. But if you live in a high-risk area, expect to pay significantly more. California homeowners, for example, pay between $1,250 and $2,750 annually on average, with some areas exceeding $3,000.
Your premium depends on several factors: where you live, what your home is made of, when it was built, and how much coverage you need. A wood-frame house in Seattle will cost less to insure than a brick home in San Francisco. Newer homes built to modern seismic codes get better rates than older structures.
Now for the deductible shock: earthquake insurance deductibles range from 10% to 25% of your home's replacement cost. This is radically different from your regular homeowners deductible, which might be $500 or $1,000. If your home would cost $400,000 to rebuild and you have a 15% deductible, you're paying the first $60,000 of damage out of pocket. That's not a typo. The high deductibles exist because earthquake damage tends to be either minor or catastrophic—there's not much middle ground.
You can lower your premium by choosing a higher deductible, but think carefully about whether you could actually afford to pay 20% or 25% of your home's value before insurance kicks in. The California Earthquake Authority offers deductibles from 5% to 25%, giving you flexibility to balance cost against risk tolerance.
Do You Actually Need Earthquake Insurance?
The honest answer depends on where you live and what you can afford to lose. If you're in California, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Utah, or Nevada, you're in earthquake country. The Pacific Northwest faces the threat of a magnitude 8 or 9 earthquake along the Cascadia Subduction Zone—an event that could happen any time. California experiences thousands of small quakes yearly, with major ones causing billions in damage when they hit.
Consider this scenario: a major earthquake renders your home uninhabitable for six months. You're paying for temporary housing, eating out because you have no kitchen, and still making your mortgage payment on a house you can't use. Without earthquake insurance, you're covering all of this while also trying to fund repairs that could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Even if you eventually sell the damaged property, you'll take a massive loss.
According to recent data, over 37% of western U.S. residents have purchased earthquake coverage—but that means nearly two-thirds are going without it. In Washington State, only about 11% of residents carried earthquake insurance as of recent surveys. Many people gamble that it won't happen to them, or they can't afford both the premium and the high deductible.
The decision becomes clearer when you consider what you'd do if you had to rebuild from scratch. Do you have enough savings to cover a $60,000 deductible plus temporary housing costs? Could you handle losing your home equity entirely? If those questions make you uncomfortable, earthquake insurance is probably worth the cost.
How to Get Earthquake Coverage
Getting earthquake insurance is usually straightforward. Start by contacting your current homeowners insurance company—many offer earthquake coverage as an endorsement to your existing policy. This is often the easiest route because you're adding to coverage you already have, and the billing stays consolidated.
If your insurer doesn't offer earthquake coverage or the price seems too high, shop around for a standalone policy. In California, the California Earthquake Authority provides policies through participating insurers, offering standardized coverage at rates based on science rather than profit. Other states have similar programs or private insurers specializing in earthquake coverage.
Before you buy, consider retrofitting your home if it was built before 1980. Securing your house to its foundation, reinforcing crawl spaces, and strengthening walls can significantly reduce earthquake damage. Many insurers offer premium discounts up to 25% for retrofitted homes, which helps offset the cost of the work. Some cities and states even offer grants or low-interest loans for seismic retrofitting.
When comparing policies, pay close attention to what's covered and what's not. Some policies offer separate deductibles for dwelling and personal property, giving you more control over your out-of-pocket costs. Others include emergency repair coverage with a lower or no deductible for immediate stabilization work—California's CEA, for instance, includes $1,500 for emergency repairs with no deductible.
Don't wait until after a nearby earthquake to buy coverage. Insurers typically impose waiting periods or stop selling new policies after seismic activity in an area. If you're thinking about earthquake insurance, get it now while you can—and before you actually need it. The peace of mind alone might be worth the premium, especially if you're in a high-risk zone where the question isn't if an earthquake will happen, but when.
