Recalling One of the Significant Events in the Insurance History: The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire

This ecological destruction is probably more dreadful than any other earthquake. It shook up more than just homes, families and lives. This event altered the course of the insurance industry and has become a milestone in the annals of natural disaster. The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake let too many insurance precedents, and encouraged scientific and engineering research. It even challenged prevalent risk perceptions. Dr. Mariagiovanna Guatteri, one of the publication's co-authors and a catastrophe perils earthquake specialist at Swiss re, said The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire remains a milestone in insurance history, having acted as a catalyst for many changes in the way this industry evaluated and mitigated natural catastrophe risk. Modeling and mitigating risk is an ever-evolving process in which a multitude of factors need to be evaluated in order to find the most successful solutions. The centennial of this catastrophe showcases the need for understanding risks and provisioning for the possibility of infrequent large events.

In the years following the event, it had a serious impact on an industry. Even though, this earthquake took away souls, hopes, and dreams, it brought back something for people to learn. It pushed our heroes today, such as engineers, scientists and researchers to do a much better. It also had a great impact on the insurance industry - again a good impact. Don't all bad things, have some good in them?