AIR to Conduct Post-Disaster Survey in Aftermath of Major Taiwan Earthquake.

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 22, 1999--

Applied Insurance Research will send a team of seismologists and earthquake engineers to Taiwan today to conduct a survey of damages in the aftermath of yesterday's devastating earthquake that hit Taiwan. Dr. Nozar Kishi, manager of engineering research, will lead the team.

Reports released by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) indicate that the earthquake occurred early morning local time September 20, and measured 7.6 in surface wave magnitude. While this is a preliminary estimate and subject to modification, the quake is clearly the strongest to hit Taiwan in decades. The epicenter was located in Nantou county, about 90 miles from Taiwan's capital, Taipei. At least four aftershocks have been reported in the 6.0 magnitude range.

Reports of damage and casualties are slow to come in, hampered by widespread loss of electricity and the cutting of telephone lines. In Taipei, the bottom stories of a 12-story hotel collapsed, sending the top stories sliding into an adjacent building. Another 12-story apartment building collapsed in a suburb of Taipei. Nevertheless, damage in the capital is said to be limited. In Taichung and other towns near the epicenter, however, dozens of buildings have collapsed. More than 1700 people are reported to have died and this toll is expected to rise as thousands more are believed to be trapped under rubble.

"Out of the tragedy of large magnitude events such as these, come unique opportunities to learn about the seismic performance of buildings and how to improve performance in the future in order to save lives," said AIR president Karen Clark. "By collecting and synthesizing information on structural failure, engineers can better understand how to prevent such failures in future and design appropriate mitigation strategies."

"The AIR team will perform a detailed survey of both structural and non-structural damage, including damage to lifelines," said AIR Director of Earthquake Research Mohammad Yazd. He continued, "of almost equal importance, however, is to note what did not fail and to determine what common structural characteristics the undamaged buildings share, if any." Information gathered by the team will be used to calibrate and validate the damageability functions of the AIR earthquake model for the Pacific Rim, thereby enhancing the reliability of estimates of potential losses generated by that model.

AIR provides catastrophe modeling services and software system solutions (CATMAP(R)/2, CLASIC(TM), and CATRADER(R)) to the insurance, reinsurance and capital markets. AIR's models simulate losses from natural catastrophes such as hurricanes, hail, tornadoes, other windstorms, flood and earthquakes in 23 countries. Offices are located in Boston, London and Seattle. The company's main Web site is www.air-boston.com