Twelve Years After Napa: Are Claims Teams Ready for the Next Earthquake?
Hi, I'm Stacy Butler, Executive Vice President at Catastrophe AI. It was 12 years ago this week, Napa was rocked by a magnitude 6.0 earthquake.
What I've come to call a microcosm of what a much larger California event could look like also fueled my passion for making sure we're better prepared for the next one.
When I deployed to Napa with an outstanding team of adjusters, we learned through trial by fire. They were experienced adjusters, but none had earthquake experience.
Twelve years later, I believe that skills gap is even greater, while our seismic risk hasn't changed.
And 2026 has certainly reminded us of the power of this peril. We've already seen 11 magnitude 7.0 or greater earthquakes around the world; including the extraordinary twin 7-plus events in Venezuela and major earthquakes in Colombia, Indonesia, Japan and elsewhere.
Those events don't predict an earthquake here. They do remind us what earthquakes are capable of.
While I don't expect CAT plans to have every answer, I do believe we need to be asking the right questions, such as:
- Does our deployment strategy account for the circumstances unique to an earthquake?
- Do we have a tiered deployment strategy based on different event scenarios?
- Is our training current and are we incorporating technology that gives our teams better tools at the point of inspection?
- Do we know exactly what resources we'll have available under multiple scenarios?
- And have we anticipated the challenges that begin after the shaking stops?
I've been helping CAT planners and claims teams work through exactly these types of questions. Because when our event comes, the time to build the plan will have passed.
If earthquake preparedness is part of your responsibility, I'd love to have that conversation with you.
Remember, it's always earthquake season. Let's keep this conversation going.