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Seismic Risk Intelligence

Case Studies for (Re)Insurers

Engineering-grade analysis of the world's most consequential earthquake events — translated into the language of PML, AAL, EP curves, and protection gap. Authored by Dynamis Associates.

5 case studies published 12–18 min read each For CROs, Cat Modelling & Underwriting teams
Case Study · EMEA
USD 104B
Total economic losses · 95% protection gap
Turkey–Syria 2023: The Protection Gap Event of the Decade

Back-to-back M7.8 and M7.7 earthquakes. USD 104,000M in losses — only 5% insured. How building code non-compliance turns a modeled risk into a balance-sheet shock, and what accumulation managers missed.

Risk Alert · Latin America
USD 35B
Estimated unmodeled exposure · 97% protection gap
Lima's Seismic Gap: The World's Largest Uninsured Earthquake Risk

10.7 million people. 280 years since the last great rupture. An April 2026 M4.9 swarm signals what Lima's seismic gap means for re/insurers — and why current cat models underestimate the tail.

Case Study · Pacific
USD 16B
Insured losses · 80% insurance penetration
Christchurch 2011: When Models Failed in the World's Best-Insured Market

The highest insurance penetration ratio in earthquake history — and still, models failed. Liquefaction losses, correlated sequences, and near-field PGA scenarios that ergodic models systematically miss.

Case Study · Latin America
USD 8.5B
Insured losses · Largest in LatAm history
Chile 2010: Correlation Risk and What Catastrophe Reinsurance Missed

M8.8 megathrust — the fifth-largest earthquake ever recorded. PML exceedance, tsunami compound losses, and why aggregation control failed across the Santiago–Concepción corridor.

Case Study · Latin America
USD 4.7B
Economic losses · Reinsurance market repricing
Puebla 2017: Why Intraslab Earthquakes Break Standard Cat Models

M7.1 — a crustal earthquake in a subduction zone, the event class most cat models underweight. USD 4,700M in economic losses; cat reinsurance premiums rose 15–30%. What accumulation managers need to price intraslab risk.

About the engineering

Dynamis Associates

Engineering consultants in earthquake engineering & structural dynamics. 100+ projects in 20+ countries across 5 continents.
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