Earthquakes happen every day in New Zealand. Most are too small to feel, but between 150 and 200 are big enough to be felt each year.
The Canterbury earthquakes and Cook Strait earthquakes and Kaikoura earthquakes have shown that large earthquakes can happen at any time.
Parts of New Zealand are also at risk from active volcanoes, landslides and tsunami. All New Zealanders need to be ready for natural disasters so the loss will be less.
EQC Insurance
EQC provides insurance to cover for loss or damage from the following natural disasters;
- earthquake
- natural landslip
- volcanic eruption
- hydrothermal activity
- tsunami
EQC not only provides insurance. EQC also works on research and teaches people how to prepare for natural disasters.
EQC funds and supports Geonet which monitors earthquake activity all over the country. EQC studies natural disasters to learn from them. EQC also looks at ways of reducing the impacts of natural disasters and stopping disasters such as landslides.
EQC’s public teaching programme tells people living in New Zealand how to stop and reduce damage caused by natural disasters; you may have seen the television advertisements about reducing earthquake damage. This includes explaining how to make homes 'quake safe' and how to reduce the chance of damage from events such as volcanic eruptions and landslides.