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What Happens to a House After an Earthquake?

By
Real Estate Agent with Elizabeth Anne Weintraub, Broker DRE #00697006

This photo is of Alex, my painter in Kona, who just finished repairing and painting all of the ceilings in our vacation house in Hawaii. Amazingly, the big 6.7 earthquake of 2006 caused little damage to the walls in the house. Most of the damage and cracks occurred in the ceilings and cement slabs. But then this home was built in 1990, so it fared better than some of the older structures in town.

We have several small earthquakes every day. According to Kailua-Kona Earthquake tracker, precisely 100 earthquakes over the past 30 days. Plate tectonics and hot spot, you know.

I thought about insurance and called my agent on Oahu. The State Farm office could not answer my questions about rates for earthquake insurance and whether I needed flood insurance. Actually, I think flood insurance is a good idea even at higher elevations like ours. We might not get hit by a tsunami, but a heavy rain could flood the house. Let's not even talk about 3 active volcanoes!

Then I picked up Hawaii West Today and noticed I have a State Farm agent right here in our HOA. I talked to that office on Wednesday about transferring my policy, called the Oahu office to get it changed. Being in Hawaii, they might get around to it next week.

BTW, as I shot this photo of Alex, he managed to stick his head into the wet paint. You can read more in my personal blog today at this link: Fixing Ceiling Cracks After an Earthquake in Hawaii.

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Elizabeth Weintraub is co-partner of Weintraub & Wallace Team of Top Producing Realtors, an author, home buying expert at The Balance, a Land Park resident, and a veteran real estate agent who specializes in older, classic homes in Land Park, Curtis Park, Midtown, Carmichael and East Sacramento, as well as tract homes in Elk Grove, Natomas, Roseville and Lincoln. Call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759. Put our combined 80 years of real estate experience to work for you. Broker-Associate at RE/MAX Gold. DRE License # 00697006.

Photo: Unless otherwise noted in this blog, the photo is copyrighted by Big Stock Photo and used with permission.The views expressed herein are Weintraub's personal views and do not reflect the views of RE/MAX Gold. Disclaimer: If this post contains a listing, information is deemed reliable as of the date it was written. After that date, the listing may be sold, listed by another brokerage, canceled, pending or taken temporarily off the market, and the price could change without notice; it could blow up, explode or vanish. To find out the present status of any listing, please go to elizabethweintraub.com.

Comments(8)

Michael Jacobs
Pasadena, CA
Pasadena And Southern California 818.516.4393

Good morning, Elizabeth --- I'm happy to read that Alex finished just in time for the flooring people to show up(they did show up on time, right?).   It seems you are accomplishing quite a bit during your wor-cation -- in Kona and back in Sacramento too.   

Dec 17, 2016 08:33 AM
Raymond E. Camp
Ontario, NY

Good morning Elizabeth,

Even with the few quakes we have had here; I have not felt them.

I like how he was admiring his work.

Make yourself an astonishing day.

Dec 17, 2016 08:46 AM
Elizabeth Weintraub Sacramento Broker
Elizabeth Anne Weintraub, Broker - Sacramento, CA
Put 40 years of experience to work for you

Good morning to you, Michael Jacobs, Alex was supposed to be finished Wednesday night but it got too dark for him to see the ceiling in the living room. He said the day just got away. I pointed out that if he had not taken off for a 3-hour lunch break, he would have been finished, and if he didn't return by 7 AM to finish spraying, he could come after Christmas. He showed up at 7 AM Thursday and finished by the time the flooring guys appeared at 9. 

Dec 17, 2016 08:47 AM
Elizabeth Weintraub Sacramento Broker
Elizabeth Anne Weintraub, Broker - Sacramento, CA
Put 40 years of experience to work for you

Raymond E. Camp I used to live in southern California, and I would feel an earthquake maybe once every couple of years. I felt one earthquake in Sacramento over the last 12 years, but they are so far away, they don't really do a lot of damage. That quake in Sacramento rattled my closet doors, which is a far cry from watching all the clothing swing on their hangers during bigger quakes.

Dec 17, 2016 08:51 AM
Chris Ann Cleland
Long and Foster Real Estate - Gainesville, VA
Associate Broker, Bristow, VA

As long as he finished the job in the timeframe he said, I'd be cool with it too.

Dec 17, 2016 11:18 AM
Hella Mitschke Rothwell
(831) 626-4000 - Honolulu, HI
Hawaii & California Real Estate Broker

Elizabeth, you did a good job at estimating the work at $1,500 when you bought the house last year. Unlike many others who might have asked for the credit to fix it, you are actually doing it.

Dec 18, 2016 05:43 AM
Elizabeth Weintraub Sacramento Broker
Elizabeth Anne Weintraub, Broker - Sacramento, CA
Put 40 years of experience to work for you

Chris Ann Cleland I'm a micro-manager tho and drive most contractors nuts and, in the process, I practically have mini heart attacks when they fall off schedule. If I didn't know so MUCH about home improvement projects . . . that can be a blessing and a curse.

Dec 18, 2016 09:55 AM
Elizabeth Weintraub Sacramento Broker
Elizabeth Anne Weintraub, Broker - Sacramento, CA
Put 40 years of experience to work for you

Hella Mitschke Rothwell That's why I don't feel the pain of paying for it because technically I already received the money. I sent you an email.

Dec 18, 2016 10:01 AM