A decade of major earthquakes: Lessons for business

Many regions of the world have been struck by a spate of damaging earthquake events over the last decade. Some of the earthquakes were truly historical, among the largest ever recorded. Others, although of lower magnitude, still caused catastrophic damage.

Building codes and risk preparedness have proved their worth. Mostly, the structural performance of buildings constructed according to the seismic codes has been effective, in particular with respect to saving lives. In terms of economic losses, including for business, however, these have been large. In some cases, surprisingly large, given that earthquakes have also struck countries such as Japan, New Zealand and Chile, global leaders in preparedness for (their high) exposures to seismic risk.