Recent earthquakes have made homeowners look for new insurance plans

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Midland, Texas (COSA) – Midlands residents have felt not one but two earthquakes since Monday, leading some homeowners to consider adding earthquake insurance to their coverage.

First, a 3.7-magnitude earthquake occurred near the Midland Martin County line on Monday night. Then, Wednesday morning, a 2.6-magnitude earthquake struck the same area.

Earthquake insurance isn’t on many people’s radar when living in the Permian Basin, but increased seismic activity could cause that to change.

Chris Wray, an agent for State Farm, says he’s seeing more people calling to ask for earthquake endorsement.

“I had four clients in Midland and we added the validation to their policy today. They called me yesterday and we have it today.”

Wray says they have added earthquake support to about 200 home policies in the area in the past year alone.

He says the endorsement covers any movement from an earthquake, sinkhole, or anything else that causes the earth to move.

“Don’t think plate tectonics has an impact here as in Southern California where we have more and more raising concerns about what could happen.”

Elaine Rathjee, seismic program officer at TexNet, says seismic activity has increased in the Greater Permian Basin over the past 10 years due to oil and gas activity.

Rathjee says most earthquakes occur in less densely populated areas and aren’t something to worry too much about right now.

“When you get moderate earthquakes that are closer to populated areas, we need to worry. Having said that, we wouldn’t expect minor damage until we get past a magnitude of 4-4.5.

Texas never fails to keep us on the alert for what might happen, and when it comes to earthquake insurance, that decision is up to you.

The Railways Commission said it was monitoring the latest quake.

“This week, a 3.7 magnitude earthquake occurred about 10 miles outside of Midland near populated areas. The RRC biologist and staff took rapid action to investigate the event,” said RRC.

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