Earthquake Memo

Dear Resident,

As you know, last week, we had two seismic events that worked its way down to San Diego. We were very fortunate that the only struggle we faced was the elevators shutting themselves down for precautionary measures. On both occasions, the elevator company was out in less than an hour to have everything back up and running.

I’d also like to commend Miguel and Jazmin for all of their hard work in getting everyone up stairwells, assisting the elevator technician, and sending out communications, so everyone was aware of the current status.

While this is fresh in all of our minds, I wanted to re-send the emergency procedures pamphlet that our consultant prepared. On Page 2, you will find the emergency procedures for earthquakes. I recommend periodically reviewing this entire pamphlet.

Each November, we host an emergency procedures training and drill for the residents. The consultant is there to answer any questions that you may have.

From the last meeting, the consultant recommended that residents keep one gallon of water per day per person, and enough for two weeks in case the local water source is contaminated or in case water supply lines are broken.

Additionally, the consultant recommended purchasing a bucket similar to the one in the link below, which contains essential items that you may need during an earthquake. The bucket also serves as a toilet, which would also be critical in case we were not receiving water.

Amazon – Emergency Bucket

It seems that now would also be a good time to discuss earthquake damage and insurance. The Association does not carry earthquake insurance. There is only one condo building in San Diego that carries it, as it is cost prohibitive, and doesn’t kick in until you’ve met your deductible. The deductible for an EQ policy for a building like Park Laurel would be about $6M.

In 2015, we had a risk analysis carried out to determine what type of damage Park Laurel might incur during an earthquake. The probability reports indicated that Park Laurel might incur the following;

$18M in damages once every 10,000 years

$11M in damages once every 5,000 years

$3M in damages once every 1,000 years

$1.6M in damages once every 500 years

$700k in damages once every 250 years

$180k in damages once every 100 years

$36k in damages once every 50 years

Since the probability is so low, and the costs are so high for earthquake insurance, the community through a survey, decided not to maintain earthquake coverage. Instead, we recommend that residents purchase an earthquake policy from their broker or through the California Earthquake Authority (CEA). These policies have an option for Loss Assessment Coverage, which would cover a special assessment of up to $100,000 along with other coverage for less than $300 per year.

Hypothetically, if all residents carried loss assessment coverage, this would provide for a special assessment of $10M to repair the building.

To obtain a quote from the CEA, you can visit CEA Calculator

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to contact me at any time.

All my best,
Ryan