The provincial capital of southwestern China’s Sichuan province is offering insurance worth up to 5 million yuan to a total of 117 local schools and communities in case of personal injuries caused by the failure of an earthquake early warning (EEW) system.

China News Service (CNS) reported that the insurance is offered by the Chengdu branch of the People's Insurance Company (Group) of China Limited (PICC) Property and Casualty Company Ltd. (P&C), as well as Chengdu-based Institute of Care-Life (ICL), which develops and provides the EEW system.

“Earthquake early warning [insurance] can offer automatic warning a few seconds before the earthquake begins. Theoretically, while it is possible to make a mistake, inaction toward such warnings can cause personal injury and property damage,” said Wang Tun, director of ICL.

Since 2011, ICL has been designing responsive measures for earthquakes in schools, subways and chemical plants. They have been cooperating with insurance companies since 2014. Wang said that he hoped the new insurance would help promote improvement of EEW regulations.

PICC P&C said that EEW insurance will likely come with more specific clauses in the future, and that the premium will vary in accordance with the reliability of the EEW system. This, in turn, will help drive EEW technology, CNS reported.

“It is a significant improvement to include earthquake warning in an insurance package. It is also a beneficial idea to further explore. We can expect [the earthquake warning insurance] to speed up early warning system development and promote the overall idea of earthquake warning systems,” said Wang Xujin, Dean of Risk Management and Insurance at Beijing Technology and Business University.

Wang also added that mistakes caused by mismanagement or individual error must not be ignored, and that those responsible should be made legally accountable.