JAUE2014-008 A proposal for promotion of strengthening structure by seismic risk transfer

Abstract

 In Japan office buildings are required to cope with seismic risks, however it's hard due to several reasons. Thus we 
propose a new insurance system which promotes strengthening structure. First we investigated the traits and problems of existing ways of risk-hedge. Then we found we can achieve a purpose if dividing seismic risks into more finely classes and expanding capacities of underwriting markets, transferring risks not only to Japanese insurance companies, also overseas and capital markets. Next, we proposed a new system. High-resiliency buildings owners establish an organization to indemnify each other if an earthquake occurs. The organization also consults buildings to keep its high-resiliency. Also we think if it costs lower than existing ways, it could be an incentive to strengthening structure to take part in this organization. Then we examined what conditions are required to manage the system and how many buildings satisfy that conditions. It includes structural and economical damage. As a result, it requires "Is"(seismic index of structure) ≥1.5 to manage the system. It's 5% of all office buildings in Japan. If facilities in buildings are reinforced, it requires "Is" ≥1.2. It's 10% of all, and twice larger than previous one.