ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the empirical relationships between geophysical risk and the insurance purchase decision. Californians could be aware of three types of zones associated with geophysical risk: the San Andreas fault, special studies zones, and scientific microzonation studies. The relationship between location with respect to geophysical risk and insurance purchase was also explored using t-tests. The maximum potential shaking intensity map produced by J. F. Evernden and J. M. Thomson is probably the best indication of geophysical risk for the Los Angeles metropolitan region. The relationship between perceived and actual risk would also be a test of the effectiveness of the efforts by federal and state agencies to promote awareness of hazardous local environments. In theory, perceived risk rather than actual geophysical risk should be most closely associated with the adoption of a mitigation measure such as the purchase of earthquake insurance.
