South eastern Ontario and some of Quebec were hit by an earthquake last week, did you get caught up in it?
Luckily, the magnitude was only 5.0 according to the US Geological Survey, and no extreme damage was disclosed. The earthquake began in Ottawa, the accounts say it was 61km north of the city. There have been many descriptions of how the earthquake was felt, but the simplest one to envision is construction work going on below you. The rumblings could be felt as high up as the 9th floor of office and condo blocks according to eye witnesses.
Even though natural disasters happen very rarely in Canada, they do take place and it brings home to us all how exposed we all are. It definitely makes me wonder what I can do to look after myself and my family should another disaster happen. There are many things you can do to prepare yourself for such emergencies, but one important thing to remember is life insurance.
What many individuals do not understand is that along with disasters such as floods or windstorms, earthquakes are one of the most expensive natural disasters. Earthquakes account for 30% of all devastation by natural tragedies from 1950-2001. Although, they account for only 9% of the human cost, fading in comparison to famine, which killed 42% of people, but accounts for only 4% of the total devastation over those years.
People losing their lives fell in the 90’s from 86,328 per year in the 80’s to 75,252; but those hit by natural disaster climbed from147 million in the 80s to 211 million people a year in the 90’s.
There are three times more natural disasters now than there ever were in the 1960s and the monetary impact has climbed by a factor of nine over the same time frame. With more disasters occurring then it stands to reason that more and more individuals are going to have their lives affected by them, so it is only natural to look at ways of minimizing the impact on your family.
Searching for life insurance that covers these types of disasters is imperative, so read the small print, satisfyingly all the five major Canadian insurance companies we looked at do. If you are urged not to travel somewhere, such as a war zone and you do, be aware that this is one exclusion that insurance companies put in place on their schemes.