Abstract
Cascading hazards of tsunamis following earthquakes are infrequent but high severity events that have the potential to devastate the west coast of North America. There are numerous earthquake sources, as well as varying local site conditions that influence tsunami inundation. The earthquake source that poses the greatest risk to the west coast of North America is the Cascadia Subduction Zone (CSZ), which spans from California to British Columbia. Quantifying the conditional risk of a tsunami given an earthquake of sizable magnitude has proven a challenge, especially for the insurance industry. Tsunamis are seen as an uninsurable risk due to the large amount of damage produced for a small spatial extent. Models are also met with a high degree of uncertainty, further enhancing reasons not to insure this hazard. In addition, climate change is an additional unknown that complicates quantifying this risk. When the CSZ ruptures, there will be significant losses across the west coast of North America. Therefore, it is imperative that insurance companies, risk managers, and individuals prepare accordingly.