Ring of Fire

Vulnerability to earthquakes along the Ring of Fire can be measured by the specific geology of the area, density of insured exposure, the resiliency of structures and the relative size of economies, said Tom Larsen, senior vp at Oakland, Calif.-based catastrophe modeler EQECAT Inc.

Considering those parameters, Mr. Larsen identified some of the areas that could be affected heavily enough by a Ring of Fire quake to stress global insurance and reinsurance markets. Among those areas are the region from Shizuoka, Japan, to Tokyo; Taiwan; the San Francisco Bay area and Los Angeles; Mexico City; Santiago, Chile; Wellington and Auckland, New Zealand; and the Philippines.

Mr. Larsen pointed out that a large quake off the shore of Japan could produce significant damage as far away as Alaska, Hawaii, the U.S. West Coast and the Southern Hemisphere.

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