Hi 2 Cents,

You said: The Loma Prieta, CA quake caused > 16 Billion in damage. You'd think the (Life) insurance companies would pony up some sponsorship as a way to hedge their risk for payouts for deaths / injuries for large quakes in populated areas. Call it "pie-in-the-sky" research....

Insurance companies involved in property losses are very big on earthquake preparedness and encourage retrofitting efforts. I learned a few years ago that traditional mainstream scientists never ask insurance companies for funding. I was rather surprised because I felt they would be very happy to contribute to the sciences.

Life Insurance Companies are very conservative and mostly fund humanities or arts efforts. As the death toll in CA earthquakes in the past 20 years has been extremely low, there is little reason for them to think of prediction as a life saving effort. More people died in the World Trade Center bombings than have died I think in the history of American earthquakes. It is these types of events that should be a demonstration as to why everyone needs life insurance. We will not all live to a ripe old age, though surely quite a few do these days.

So, to our readers who may be in the science community and need funding for projects, don't forget to ask the top ten casualty carriers for a little financial assistance. The results may prove beneficial.

Petra (temporarily retired from insurance)