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Earthquake insurance explained
Homeowners policies exclude earthquake damage. How earthquake coverage is sold, what it pays and leaves out, why deductibles run 2% to 25%, and who needs it.
A standard homeowners policy does not pay for earthquake damage. If you want that protection, you buy it separately, either as an endorsement to your homeowners policy or as its own policy, and it comes with a deductible that is a percentage of your home's value, commonly in the range of 2% to 25%. It covers the shaking damage that your homeowners policy excludes, but it leaves out a lot, so what it does and does not pay matters more than the premium.
What your homeowners policy already does
The ISO HO-3 form (HO 00 03) excludes earth movement, including earthquake, landslide, mudflow, subsidence and "any other earth movement." The exclusion is covered in detail in the earth movement exclusion explained. Two things stay covered. A fire, explosion or theft that results from an earthquake is paid under your homeowners policy, and the Insurance Information Institute says fire and water damage from burst gas and water pipes are covered by standard policies in most states. So if shaking ruptures a gas line and the house burns, the fire loss is a homeowners claim. If shaking cracks the foundation and shifts the house off its piers, it is not.
That gap is the reason earthquake policies exist. They pay for the damage the shaking itself did.
How coverage is sold
According to the Insurance Information Institute, earthquake coverage is available "either in the form of an endorsement or as a separate policy" from private insurers. The government does not run a program the way it does for flood. The two main routes:
- An endorsement or companion policy from your homeowners insurer. Availability, limits and deductibles vary by insurer and location, so ask your agent whether the endorsement is offered where you live.
- A standalone policy from a specialty insurer. In California, the state-created The California Earthquake Authority explained sells policies only through participating homeowners insurers. CEA's list of participating insurers includes State Farm, Allstate, Farmers Insurance and the California FAIR Plan, and its separate page of alternatives names GeoVera (GeoVera Insurance) and Palomar, which CEA says are not affiliated with it. Check CEA's pages for the current list.
California is unusual in one more way. State law requires insurers that write homeowners policies to offer earthquake coverage to policyholders every two years, according to the California Department of Insurance and CEA. Most states have no such requirement, so in many places you must ask. In California the offer comes in writing with limits, deductible and premium, and the Department of Insurance says that if you do not reply within 30 days of the mailing date, you are rejecting it.
There is no federal purchase mandate for earthquake coverage as there is for flood in high-risk zones, so mortgage lenders generally do not make you buy it, though a lender's own rules can differ. You still owe the mortgage if the house is destroyed.
What a typical policy pays
Policies differ. CEA's sample Basic Earthquake Policy for homeowners (form BEQ-3B, January 2026 edition) shows a representative structure, and it is a useful template for questions to ask any insurer.
| Coverage | In the CEA sample policy |
|---|---|
| Dwelling and extensions | One combined limit; the limit must match the dwelling limit on your homeowners policy |
| Personal property | Optional or included depending on the policy, with limits of $5,000 or $25,000 |
| Loss of use | Extra living costs, no deductible, limits from $1,500 to $100,000 |
| Emergency repairs | First $1,500 with no deductible |
| Building code upgrade | $10,000 included, with higher limits available at extra cost |
The figures come from CEA's coverage page. Other insurers' terms differ.
What is left out
The same sample policy shows how much a "basic" earthquake policy leaves out. It excludes swimming pools, spas and hot tubs; exterior masonry veneer; landscaping, trees and lawns; detached garages and outbuildings except as specifically provided; fences; and driveways and patios beyond what is needed to enter the house. It limits chimneys to $10,000 total and mold resulting from an earthquake to $5,000. It does not treat tsunami or volcanic eruption as an earthquake, and it does not provide extended replacement cost, so if rebuilding costs more than the limit, you pay the difference. It covers a seismically induced landslide only if the landslide would not have occurred without the earthquake. The policy also states its own definition of one occurrence: all earthquakes or aftershocks within 360 hours of the first one are a single "seismic event" with one deductible.
Your own policy will differ. Use that list as the questions to ask: what is the sublimit on the chimney, is masonry covered, are detached structures covered, does the limit include debris removal, and is there extended replacement cost?
The deductible
Earthquake deductibles are percentages, and they are large. Triple-I says they range from 2% to 20% of the structure's replacement value and that insurers in high-risk states such as Washington, Nevada and Utah often set minimums near 10%. CEA offers 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% and 25% of the dwelling limit.
Say your dwelling limit is $400,000 and your deductible is 15%. That is $60,000 you absorb before the policy pays anything on the house. If the shaking causes $50,000 of damage, the policy pays nothing for the house, even though you had a loss. Why deductibles are set this way, and how to pick one, is the subject of earthquake deductibles: why they're so high. The percentage-deductible mechanics are also in percentage deductibles: how a 2% deductible really works.
Who needs it
The honest case on each side:
For buying. Earthquake losses are infrequent but can be total, they are excluded everywhere else, and the 1994 Northridge earthquake showed the stakes: the Insurance Information Institute puts insured losses at $15.3 billion by ISO's estimate, about $32.2 billion in 2023 dollars. The U.S. Geological Survey's 2023 update to its national seismic hazard model estimates that nearly 75% of the country could experience potentially damaging shaking. Federal disaster help does not replace a policy; see FEMA disaster assistance vs insurance: what each pays.
Against buying. Premiums can be high in active zones, the deductible means moderate damage goes unpaid, the exclusions leave out pools, fences and veneers, and a house on good soil with a retrofitted foundation may suffer little. Some homeowners in moderate-risk areas decide that a high-deductible policy is a catastrophe-only product, worth buying only if they could not rebuild without it.
Take-up is low. In the 2020 Triple-I Consumer Poll, 23% of insured homeowners said they had earthquake coverage, up from 15% in 2018. In California in 2025, 15.24% of homeowners policies carried it, according to CEA's annual report to the Legislature. A Triple-I and Munich Re consumer survey in 2023 found over 37% of western U.S. residents had bought it.
What affects the premium
Insurers rate earthquake risk by location and building type. Features that usually matter are the age of the house, the foundation (slab, raised foundation with cripple walls, or a basement), the framing material (wood frame, unreinforced masonry, concrete), the number of stories and the soil. Retrofitting an older wood-frame house on a raised foundation can earn a discount; CEA, for example, offers up to 25% off for verified retrofits of qualifying pre-1980 homes. Grants for the work exist in California, as described in The California Earthquake Authority explained.
Before and after a quake
- Read the declarations page for the earthquake deductible, limits and any sublimits, and ask your agent to put in writing what is excluded.
- Photograph the house now, including foundation, chimney and cripple walls, so damage can be separated from earlier cracks. See foundation cracks and settling: what's covered.
- Expect limits on changes after a quake. Earthquake policies can let the insurer refuse increases in coverage or reductions in the deductible for a period after a significant earthquake. CEA's policy allows it for 30 days when your ZIP code experienced Modified Mercalli intensity V or greater. Buy before the shaking.
- After a quake, file two claims if needed: earthquake damage under the earthquake policy, and any fire or burst-pipe damage under the homeowners policy. Photograph and keep emergency repair receipts, and report promptly: the California Department of Insurance warns that an insurer can deny claims not reported within one year.
Key takeaways
- Standard homeowners policies exclude earthquake damage; fire that follows an earthquake is generally covered.
- Earthquake coverage is a separate endorsement or policy, with percentage deductibles that Triple-I puts at 2% to 20% and CEA sets at 5% to 25%.
- Typical earthquake policies leave out pools, veneers, fences, landscaping and detached structures, and cap chimneys and mold, so read the sublimits.
- Buy before a quake. Insurers can restrict changes right after one, and the lender will still expect the mortgage to be paid.
- In California, buy through your homeowners insurer if it participates in CEA; elsewhere, ask your agent for the endorsement and its deductible.