Earthquake hazard factor in Pacific Northwest

[Nick Brubaker]

Hi everyone,

I have recently become very interested in moving the pacific northwest to invest in buy-and-hold properties long term.  I am particularly interested in the Portland and Vancouver areas as well as other places in Washington state and Oregon, including Seattle.  These states and metro areas seem both like a nice place to live long term (10, 20+ years) as well as invest.  

I got particularly interested in Vancouver for tax reasons, but then realized it is located next to several active volcanoes (Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Ranier, Mt. Hood...).  I started looking into what risk volcanic activity might pose, and then started investigating the earthquake hazards in the region more generally.  

Considering I am planning on holding properties in the area for decades it seems like a real factor to consider.  Earthquake and tsunami risk aside even just having tons of ash dumped on numerous properties sounds devastating.  I have read as well that insurers in the area typically won't insure against such hazards.  

Anyway, I imagine I will get a mixed response here, but I am very curious what people more familiar with the area and the risks have to say.  How much of a factor would these hazards be in a long-term investment strategy in the region?

[Wayne Prentiss]

If you want to take advantage of the research that big insurance companies (and more important, their actuaries) do to calculate the risk of such an event, any easy way to do this is to price earthquake insurance. It isn't perfect, but the premiums give you a feel for the "extra cost" of doing business. As other for mentioned you'll have a lot less of other problems: frozen pipes, snow removal, broken AC (in many cases housing doesn't have AC), etc.. It's all about what risk/cost you are used to. We choose not to insure against earthquakes, and I've been through three major ones on the west coast in the last 25 years. We live in the Seattle area now and love it. It is hard to imagine living anywhere else in the US than the Pacific Northwest, but it isn't for everyone!