ABSTRACT
Earthquake insurance can help to protect the part of the family's wealth that is represented by its home equity. This chapter analyzes five correlates: age of respondent, sex of respondent, the extent to which they are worried about an earthquake, whether they report having been frightened by an earthquake, and relative family income. There are peculiar aspects of earthquake insurance in both countries that further complicate the decision to adopt this mitigation measure. The earthquake insurance system in Japan dates only from 1966, when the Law Concerning Earthquake Insurance was passed. Homeowners in California were far more likely to adopt a whole range of mitigation measures than their counterparts in the Japanese study areas. Response to the question of whether the respondents had personally been frightened by previous earthquakes tended not to be significantly related to the adoption of mitigation measures. Income level was particularly important in the adoption of some of the more costly mitigation measures.
