Economic Impacts of Major Earthquakes on Businesses
February 21, 2023 @ 10:00 am - 11:30 am
Economic impacts of a major earthquakes in California such as caused devastation in Turkey and Syria will be discussed by an expert panel on the Resilience Advantage webinar from 10 to 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 21.
The human toll of the recent earthquakes has been staggering. More than 20,000 were confirmed dead and some 50,000 injured in the massive 7.8 quake – the largest to hit the region in more than 100 years -- as of Thursday, Feb 9. Thousands of buildings have collapsed and continuing aftershocks are leaving tens of thousands without shelter in freezing weather.
Economic impacts of the earthquakes are projected to be massive for the two countries that were already suffering difficult economic conditions. Villages and towns are destroyed, economies disrupted, and gas, electricity and water pipelines compromised. Experts indicate recovery from such a large earthquake can take years or even decades.
“The fault responsible for the Turkey disaster is very similar to the type and length of faults we have in California,” says Ross S. Stein, CEO and Co-Founder, Temblor, Inc. “Earthquakes can not be ignored or willed away. California needs to build stronger buildings and strengthen older buildings with retrofits.”
- How likely is it that California could experience an earthquake like the one in Turkey and what would be the impacts on small businesses?
- What lessons can we learn from how small businesses have fared in other natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina or Superstorm Sandy?
- How are small businesses currently managing their natural hazard risk and where are the gaps in preparedness?
- How will the recently passed California legislation providing grant funding for seismic retrofit of soft-story apartment buildings help small businesses?
- How do I estimate the potential property and business impacts on my current building or one I am thinking of buying?
