New Zealand’s Earthquake Commission (EQC) is celebrating the 20th anniversary of geological hazard monitoring service GeoNet, which was created in collaboration with Land Information New Zealand and GNS Science.

Last year EQC invested about $NZ22 million ($20.39 million) into natural hazard research, mostly allocated to GeoNet. Since 2001, EQC has invested $NZ189 million ($175.21 million) to allow GeoNet to record and collect data on earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic activity and landslides.

EQC recently secured a record-high reinsurance cover of nearly $NZ7 billion ($6.49 billion) for the 2021/22 financial year and CFO Fraser Gardiner says investment in the GeoNet platform and related science provides confidence to international reinsurance markets to continue providing cover for New Zealand.

“The reliability of the data and our risk models has become an invaluable asset when EQC engages with the international reinsurers to underwrite a substantial portion of our EQCover program, enabling EQC to provide the residential and land insurance New Zealanders have come to rely on after natural disasters,” Mr Gardiner said.

“Our New Zealand modelling carries significant weight and trust to be able to affect negotiations favourably.”

Ever since the Canterbury Earthquake Sequence, he says hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders look at the GeoNet app on their phone when they feel movement to check the location and strength of any earthquake.

“It is hard to imagine life in the Shaky Isles without earthquake or tsunami alerts from GeoNet and the associated Felt Reports,” Mr Gardiner said.

EQC provides a specific New Zealand-view of risks to reinsurers that can be compared to other models developed by US-based companies, he says.

The GeoNet data is the backbone of bespoke risk-modelling tool for New Zealand Minerva, which EQC and Aon began developing in 1998. EQC is currently transitioning to a new loss modelling platform called RiskScape that will include a wider range of natural hazards.