Chile

	Earthquake

Chile Earthquake

Historically, Chile is one of the most seismically active regions in the world. It sits on the South American plate, directly above the subducting Nazca plate. This active subduction zone causes frequent earthquakes in the region.

Over the last century, Chile has experienced more than a dozen major earthquakes. The 1906 Great Valparaiso earthquake (Ms8.6), damaged much of central Chile and was felt from Peru to Buenos Aires. In the 1939 Chillan Ms8.3 earthquake, damage covered an area of 45,000 square kilometers. In the 1960 Chiloe events, an entire segment of the subducting Nazca plate ruptured with the main shock measuring Mw9.5, the largest instrumentally-recorded event in the world. In 1985, central Chile was hit again by a quake measuring Ms7.8, resulting in losses of US$1.8 billion. Damage from this earthquake was concentrated in the ports of Valparaiso and Viña del Mar.

While earthquake hazard in Chile is among the highest in the world, the country’s building codes and practices have been adapted to respond to this environment, helping to mitigate the level of financial risk. Since 1996, the RMS® Chile Earthquake Model has helped companies underwriting business in Chile to understand and quantify the interaction of hazard and building vulnerability to determine the impact on insured portfolio losses.

Model Highlights

	140 source regions with earthquake generating potential
	Earthquake modeling parameters developed in consultation with experts from the University of Chile
	Comprehensive hazard database for soil amplification potential and liquefaction susceptibility
	Vulnerability functions that account for local/regional construction differences and building code changes in 1950 and 1975
	Building inventory database of national construction mix, used to develop default assumptions when construction class is not known

Geographic Scope

Covers all regions of Chile

Exposure Data Resolution

Data input supported at the following levels of resolution: latitude-longitude, city district (Santiago only), city, comuna (county equivalent), and CRESTA zone

RMS Central and South America Earthquake Models

The Chile Earthquake Model is part of the RMS suite of earthquake models for Central and South America. The models assess potential losses from earthquake ground shaking for all Central and South American countries with significant seismic hazard, to offer a comprehensive view of portfolio risk for the insurance markets of Central and South America.

The models represent RMS’ integration of the latest seismic and engineering research, and are part of the comprehensive 2009 update of RMS earthquake models for North and South America. In developing the models for Central and South America, RMS collaborated with leading experts in the fields of geology and seismology from each of the modeled countries to incorporate local data, knowledge, and experience related to all aspects of Central and South American seismic risk.

Insurers with multi-national portfolios can now assess earthquake risk on a country-by-country or region-wide basis using a seamless seismic source model across Central and South America. The models provide a standard, consistent framework for managing accumulations, price setting, and reporting solvency margins to rating and regulatory bodies.

Model Highlights

	Seismic source model that captures the correlation of risk across boundaries of adjacent countries
	Regionally continuous event set that allows seamless grouping or simultaneous analysis of Central and South American exposures
	Third-generation earthquake modeling technology that captures the effects of construction type, building height, year of construction, local site conditions, and other location-level attributes on a building’s response to an earthquake
	Building vulnerability functions developed in conjunction with local engineers to account for unique aspects of Central and South American building design and construction practices
	High-resolution geotechnical data, such as site conditions and liquefaction susceptibility, where available, to capture detailed hazard variation where it is most important
	Detailed (RiskLink-DLM) and aggregate (RiskLink-ALM) loss modeling capability to enable efficient use of model output in underwriting and pricing
	RMS® Industrial Facilities Model analysis capability

Related Models

	Industrial Facilities Model