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The present article serves two main goals. First, the proposed scheme for Greece is being involved in a benchmarking analysis. Second, an expansion of previous quantitative models is undertaken in order to estimate risk‐based premiums for the proposed national insurance scheme.

The benchmarking analysis of the proposed scheme is undertaken in comparison to the best practices of the catastrophe insurance systems operating in most member‐states of the EU. Risk modelling is employed to calculate risk‐based premiums.

The benchmarking analysis leads to conclusions which may be useful for the stage of actual implementation of such a program in Greece. Risk‐based premiums for the proposed national insurance scheme are estimated for all CRESTA zones of the country.

Uncertainty of estimated catastrophe losses is a limitation of the research.

The paper provides a detailed description of the proposed earthquake insurance scheme.

The Greek Government should evaluate the proposal for the establishment of a national insurance program for earthquake damages.

The paper's originality/value consists of the construction of a unique data bank of the residential stock of Greece, and a comprehensive proposal for earthquake insurance, based on the best practices of national Cat insurance schemes.

Recent earthquake-induced liquefaction events and associated losses have increased researchers’ interest into liquefaction risk reduction interventions. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, there was no scholarly literature related to an economic appraisal of these risk reduction interventions. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the issues in applying cost–benefit analysis (CBA) principles to the evaluation of technical mitigations to reduce earthquake-induced liquefaction risk.

CBA has been substantially used for risk mitigation option appraisal for a number of hazard threats. Previous literature in the form of systematic reviews, individual research and case studies, together with liquefaction risk and loss modelling literature, was used to develop a theoretical model of CBA for earthquake-induced liquefaction mitigation interventions. The model was tested using a scenario in a two-day workshop.

Because liquefaction risk reduction techniques are relatively new, there is limited damage modelling and cost data available for use within CBAs. As such end users need to make significant assumptions when linking the results of technical investigations of damage to built-asset performance and probabilistic loss modelling resulting in many potential interventions being not cost-effective for low-impact disasters. This study questions whether a probabilistic approach should really be applied to localised rapid onset events like liquefaction, arguing that a deterministic approach for localised knowledge and context would be a better base for the cost-effectiveness mitigation interventions.

This paper makes an original contribution to literature through a critical review of CBA approaches applied to disaster mitigation interventions. Further, this paper identifies challenges and limitations of applying probabilistic based CBA models to localised rapid onset disaster events where human losses are minimal and historic data is sparse; challenging researchers to develop new deterministic based approaches that use localised knowledge and context to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of mitigation interventions.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the effects earthquakes may have on rates of marriage and divorce in China, a country strongly affected by losses due to earthquakes.

This paper studies the effect of earthquakes on marriage and divorce rates in China between 2000 and 2011, using panel data from 31 provinces as well as from Sichuan at the prefecture level, a province that has a high frequency of earthquakes.

The results show that when controlling for demographic, economic, and social factors, losses due to earthquakes are found to be associated with increases in both marriage and divorce rates. While the estimated elasticities are low, amounting to 1.92×10−2 and 6.102×10−2, respectively, they are highly significant, suggesting that a doubling of losses due to earthquakes increases marriages by 1.92 percent and divorces by 6.102 percent with a lag of one year. Since the first elasticity is smaller than the second, losses due to earthquakes may influence familial instability. Moreover, these effects increase in the second year but cannot be traced beyond three years after the disaster.

In view of the cost imposed on society by instable family relationships, these findings point to a need to provide relief to families after earthquake disasters.

Due to climate change and an increasing concentration of the world’s population in vulnerable areas, how to manage catastrophe risk efficiently and cover disaster losses fairly is still a universal dilemma.

This paper applies a law and economic approach.

China’s mechanism for managing catastrophic disaster risk is in many ways unique. It emphasizes government responsibilities and works well in many respects, especially in disaster emergency relief. Nonetheless, China’s mechanism which has the vestige of a centrally planned economy needs reform.

I propose a catastrophe insurance market-enhancing framework which marries the merits of both the market and government to manage catastrophe risks. There are three pillars of the framework: (i) sustaining a strong and capable government; (ii) government enhancement of the market, neither supplanting nor retarding it; (iii) legalizing the relationship between government and market to prevent government from undermining well-functioning market operations. A catastrophe insurance market-enhancing framework may provide insights for developing catastrophe insurance in China and other transitional nations.

First, this paper analyzes China’s mechanism for managing catastrophic disaster risks and China’s approach which emphasizes government responsibilities will shed light on solving how to manage catastrophe risk efficiently and cover disaster losses fairly. Second, this paper starts a broader discussion about government stimulation of developing catastrophe insurance and this framework can stimulate attention to solve the universal dilemma.

This paper first aims to estimate the economic loss due to an earthquake, such as building‐related losses, the damage of debris generation and fire, and the social impact. Then, it seeks to evaluate the feasibility of retrofit to prevent buildings from seismic structural damages.

The HAZUS software is used for the seismic loss estimation using default demographic data, which were obtained from San Francisco Assessor record. The HAZUS estimates the damage using the earthquake of 6.7 magnitude. Based on the HAZUS report incorporated with probabilistic scenarios of earthquakes, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) guidelines are used to calculate the cost of structural rehabilitation in San Francisco.

It is recommended that either Options 1 and 3 or Options 2 and 3 provided by FEMA 156 and 157 respectively should be used to calculate the cost of seismic rehabilitation of a structure. The results provide estimated costs of retrofit plans for different types of existing buildings.

The implementation of quantitative and computer methods in the field of natural hazard management is demonstrated. The outcome provides economic guidelines for assessment and prevention (or reduction) of possible seismic loss and building damage.

The study may be a useful reference for retrofit plans for homeowners and business management. The cost estimation also can help government establish or revise some policies properly to provide homeowners with economic incentives (e.g. tax reduction, low interest loan) in retrofitting their homes.

The aim of this paper is to link earthquake probabilistic and deterministic risk assessment with the decision‐making process in order to implement policies, plans, and procedures to prevent or reduce human and monetary losses.

This study suggests an integrated framework for earthquake consequences management. The framework consists of an earthquake consequences model, value analysis, and socio‐economic analysis, as well as dynamic integration for implementing strategies, policies, and plans.

The developed integrated framework for earthquake consequences management could be used for a study area, especially in developing countries in which human and capital resources are limited.

There is a need to have different case studies to demonstrate how the integrated framework for earthquake consequence management could reduce human and monetary losses due to earthquakes for a study area.

It is important to consider earthquake risks as part of strategic planning for societies that are vulnerable to future earthquakes.

There are several researches which addressed earthquake probabilistic and deterministic risk assessment without linking the decision‐making process in order to implement policies, plans, and procedures to prevent or reduce human and monetary losses. This paper aims to address this issue.

This study suggests an integrated framework for earthquake consequences management. The framework consists of earthquake consequences model, value analysis, and socio‐economic analysis, as well as dynamic integration for implementing strategies, policies, and plans.

The developed integrated framework for earthquakes consequences management could be used for a study area especially in developing countries in which human and capital resources are limited.

There is a need to have different case studies to demonstrate how the integrated framework for earthquake consequence management could reduce human and monetary losses due to earthquakes for a study area.

It is important to consider earthquake risks as part of strategic planning for societies that are vulnerable to future earthquakes.

Buried structures like pipeline systems or water distribution networks (WDN) are vulnerable to seismic activities and the risk of damages increases when there is liquefaction. This paper aims to propose a methodology on how to determine the probable maximum loss (PML) on pipeline systems when earthquakes and liquefaction occur in future scenarios.

The paper used historical data and presents a case study on how the methodology to estimate the PML was used. The estimation is analytic and relied on simulations to determine the seismic and liquefaction hazard in the study area. Statistical and numerical analysis was used to estimate the damages and losses.

The output shows the PML of a WDN at different earthquake scenarios. It also shows a comparison between the damages and losses of diameter sizes of the pipes.

In this paper, the damages behaved independently in one area, and correlation was not considered.

This PML methodology can aid in pre-disaster planning to prepare for seismic countermeasures risk transfer such as insurance to reduce the loss.

This paper shows a methodology and example on how to estimate the damages and PMLs of an existing WDN of a projected earthquake and liquefaction hazard based on historical data.