QUAKE INSURANCE CHANGES NO CAUSE FOR PUBLIC ALARM

Some major insurance companies have scaled back or stopped issuing earthquake insurance policies in Southeast Missouri. Other companies have raised earthquake policy deductibles.

A series of earthquakes rocked the New Madrid Fault in 1811 and 1812, and companies are worried about a repeat performance.

The news shouldn't send Southeast Missouri residents into a tizzy. It is a decision based on finances more than worry that a quake will strike this region anytime soon. A number of insurance companies have been hard hit by a string of costly disasters, including Hurricane Andrew in 1993 and the earthquake that shook Northbridge, Calif., in 1994.

Not all insurance companies have quit writing earthquake policies in Southeast Missouri. And none of the three companies scaling back new policies plan to cancel current earthquake policyholders.

Insurance companies aren't the only ones reeling from record disaster relief payments.

The federal government has paid out nearly $120 billion in relief since 1977 for earthquakes, fires, floods, famine and hurricanes. Last February Congress approved an $8.4 billion supplemental disaster relief bill, primarily to cover the California earthquake and Midwest flooding.

Ironically, many in Congress want the states and businesses to share more of the load. A federal task force recommended greater participation in public and private insurance programs as a way of financially hedging against future calamities.

It can only be hoped a new book by former Southeast Missouri State University earthquake center director David Stewart had no effect on the insurance industry change. He claims that deaths tolls from the 1811 and 1812 New Madrid earthquakes are much higher than reports. Instead of 20 deaths, he estimates 500 or even 1,000 because "no one counted the American Indians or the deaths on the river." That sounds like mere speculation 184 years later.

There's nothing wrong with preparing for a major earthquake, but there is no need for a bunker mentality. The action of insurance companies is disappointing but not devastating.