MAGNA, Utah — Buildings shook. Facades crumbled.
And insurers paid. They paid the policyholders who made claims after the 5.7 magnitude earthquake centered in Magna that rattled northern Utah five years ago in 2020.
The Magna earthquake appears to have boosted what had already been a steady rise in Utahns buying earthquake insurance.
| YEAR | Total Count of Standalone Earthquake Endorsements | |||
| 2018 | 57,473 | |||
| 2019 | 59,372 | |||
| 2020 | 64,123 | |||
| 2021 | 57,906 | |||
| 2022 | 64,855 |
Earthquake Insurance, Direct Premiums Written in Utah (the amount of premiums an insurance company receives for policies it writes):
- 2006: $24 million; ranked 14th largest total among the states
- 2019: $60 million; ranked eighth largest total among the states
- 2023: $138 million; ranked fifth largest total among the states
Whether to buy earthquake insurance comes down to how much risk someone can tolerate if they own a home or other building, explained Matt Child, the CEO of Utah Independent Agents.
“And if [homeowners are] really worried about it, yeah, definitely buy it,” Child said, “and understand that peace of mind is worth $1,000, $2,000 or $3,000 a year.”
Earthquake coverage is not standard on homeowner policies, and some insurers will not sell earthquake policies in Utah.
Child said anyone wanting an earthquake policy should speak to their insurance agent. For anyone who doesn't have an agent and finds that a provider won’t sell a policy, find an independent agent, he said, or seek your own policy on the open market.
Watch below as earthquake happened while FOX 13 was live on the air:
Understand the coverage you’re buying and what it will and will not cover. If you have a brick house, Child said, the policy you buy may only cover the cost of rebuilding a house made of cheaper material. If you want to rebuild masonry, you may have to pay a higher premium.
If you wait to buy a policy after an earthquake, you might be too late. Child said many insurers will refuse to sell new policies during a period of aftershocks.
What about renters? Can they buy earthquake insurance of some kind?
“If you have damage to your personal stuff,” Child said, “stuff falling from a shelf, or heaven forbid a fire or pipes burst as a result of the earthquake, all of that would be covered by a normal renter's policy.”
But what if the rental property is so badly damaged you can’t live there anymore?
Child suggests speaking to the landlord about whether the building owner is carrying an insurance policy that will provide for the tenants’ losses.