Preparing For Earthquakes - Published on Monday, October 29,
2007 - Written by Vicky Rathje According to the Association of
Bay Area Governments recent study, Earthquakes may not be
considered an “act of God” in the legal sense. “Although the
earthquake event is perhaps the epitome of an “act of God” the
fact is that earthquake occur in California. The damage
resulting from an earthquake may be foreseeable and under some
circumstances can be mitigated, at least partially. The research
concludes that this defense may work in only two very limited
situations. - The earthquake was of such type or size as to be
unforeseeable and the business did not act negligently with
respect to dealing with a foreseeable earthquake. - The
earthquake was foreseeable, and the defendant took all
reasonable actions to prevent harm, but nonetheless damage still
occurred. Expanding on the aspect of liability, Gerald Stephens,
President of the Society of Chartered Property and Casualty
Underwriters comments: “Once it has been establi