Insurance companies typically do have a 30-day or so moratorium on selling earthquake insurance in an area that has just experienced a significant earthquake -- just good business sense. Unlike buying auto insurance or homeowners insurance, with an earthquake, virtually everyone in a region will experience some kind of loss at the same time. The homeowner wants to maximize his claims vs. his premiums; the insurance company wants to maximize premiums vs. claims. The insurance companies generally have a certain magnitude of earthquake above which they will declare a moratorium. Since I haven't seen anything about a moratorium on earthquake insurance in Reno, possibly that benchmark magnitude has not been reached.

I've attached a link to a paper written in 1997 that identifies the 13 strong earthquakes that have affected western Nevada since 1850. The area around Verdi that is currently affected had two large (6.0M) earthquakes during that period -- one in 1914 and one in 1948.

The one in 1948 was preceded in the days before by numerous foreshocks. "In addition to foreshocks, "mysterious rumbles" or subterranean roars were heard in the Verdi-Reno region for about a year before the Verdi earthquake."

Question: Do individual faults have patterns of rupturing? In other words, is the current swarm a repeat of previous fault "behavior?"

BTW, please do not refer to anyone with a slanderous adjective like "idiot." I prefer to keep a modicum of civility here. Personally, I like Sean Hannity and other so-called "conservative talk-show hosts," like Rush Limbaugh. I think they do a great service to this country and I applaud the day when Reagan did away with the so-called Fairness Doctrine. Please note that it was Sean Hannity that first broke the story about the Rev. Wright, not the mainstream news media. I believe that an association with a man such as the Rev. Wright by a presidential candidate is a cause for concern and needs to be exposed to the general /voting public and I applaud him for bringing it to our attention.

Barbara

Barbara

• Earthquake Occurrence in Reno-Carson City Urban Corridor