Should Quebecers consider earthquake home insurance? Experts weigh in

You may not notice the rumbling and the shaking, but hundreds of earthquakes hit eastern Canada every year.

In fact, Montreal is one of Quebec's highest earthquake risk zones, according to Earthquakes Canada.

"Starting from the south, we have the western Quebec seismic zone, which extends from Témiscaming to the Ottawa Valley, and includes Montreal as well," explains Yajing Liu, an associate professor with McGill University's Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences. "Then, it goes up along the Saint Lawrence River to the Charlevoix seismic zone, where there was a meteorite impact crater about 350 million years ago."

Additionally, Liu adds the province also comprises the Bas-Saint-Laurent seismic zone.

"Those are the three major active seismic zones in eastern Canada," she said, noting it's been the case for hundreds of years.

"We know that in history, like Montreal, we had a magnitude five point something, 5.8 I think, in the 17th or 18th century," Liu said. "In the Charlevoix seismic zone, we also know there have been five, magnitude six and larger earthquakes since the 17th century."

She admits that when people think of earthquakes, they're more likely to mention Japan or California.

"In Quebec, we don't generally think that we're in an active seismic zone because most of the earthquakes here we experience are small, much smaller compared to the larger ones in Japan, the large ones in California," she said.

All the same, according to the Canadian National Seismograph Network, the western Quebec seismic zone, which encompasses Montreal, experiences about 150 earthquakes per year.

Earthquakes Canada adds that, on average, an earthquake occurs in the western Quebec seismic zone every five days.

"We do get a fair share of magnitude threes," said Liu. "If they're close enough, like within 50 kilometres from the epicentre, then we do feel the shaking."

A home damaged by an earthquake. (Faruk Tokluoğlu/pexels.com)

Pierre Babinsky, Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) public affairs director, says Quebecers tend to be unaware of the many minor shakes that happen in the province each year.

"I think people know that there's something with earthquakes in Quebec, but they don't see it as a threat to them or to their property," he said.

A survey conducted by the IBC in 2019 found that 33 per cent of respondents said they thought they were already insured for earthquake risk.

Babinsky explains that basic home insurance will cover most "usual perils," but an earthquake is not automatically part of that.

He states that the range a person could pay for earthquake insurance varies greatly depending on the value of their home – and the deductible is often much higher, too.

"Usually, the earthquake endorsement covers the whole value of your home," he said. "It's a higher amount. Therefore, the premium will be based on that fact."

Plus, only eight per cent of Quebecers think their home is at risk of damage because of an earthquake.

"If you don't feel it's a threat to you, then you'll be less inclined to buy something that you may feel is a little more expensive than it should be," Babinsky said. "It's all about risk perception, so if you don't feel at risk, you're less inclined to take that protection."

The number of homes insured for earthquake damage has increased slightly, the IBC notes, from three to four per cent in 2018 to seven per cent in 2023.

"What we recommend is that people shop for protection, for coverage, as opposed to shopping for a premium," said Babinsky. "If we're just shopping for the premium, you we may neglect some coverages that could be important and could mean a lot if disaster strikes."

If you ever do find yourself in an earthquake, the Great Shake Out earthquake drill movement recommends these three steps to protect yourself:

• Drop (to the floor to reduce the chance of being hit by falling objects);
• Cover (under a secure piece of furniture and stay on hands and knees to protect vital organs) and;
• Hold on (until the shaking stops).

If no shelter is available, crouch near an interior wall and hold onto your head and neck with both arms and hands.