In the wake of last week's devastating 9.0-magnitude earthquake in Japan, California's U.S. senators introduced new legislation on Thursday to help California be better prepared for natural disasters that might hit the state.

U.S. Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein (both D-CA) introduced the National Hazards Risk Reduction Act of 2011, aimed to help improve preparedness for earthquakes and violent windstorms, including supporting research into advance warning systems, improved building codes and other efforts to reduce risks and damage from natural disasters.

“This critical legislation will help safeguard our communities by developing new ways to monitor and prepare for devastating natural disasters, including earthquakes,” said Boxer.

Added Feinstein, “With the tragic earthquake in Japan, we should do everything we can to be better prepared in the case of natural disasters. This bill will better equip states like California to withstand catastrophic natural disasters and implement modern building codes to protect lives and property.”

The legislation reauthorizes the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP), which assesses new and existing earthquake hazards, improves building codes and works to decrease the damage of seismic activity by assessing overall vulnerability.

The program was first authorized in 1977 and has led to significant improvements in earthquake research and prediction and infrastructure preparedness. The most recent reauthorization expired in 2009.

California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones offered his support of the Earthquake Insurance Affordability Act Thursday.

“Recent events have shown how significant the impact of an earthquake can be and how critical it is for people to be ready to confront the challenges that arise from such a disaster. And one of the most important ways people can do this is though earthquake insurance,” Jones said.

He said the bill would enable state-sponsored earthquake programs to lower the cost of earthquake insurance, increase the amount of coverage provided and lower deductibles at little or no cost to the federal government.

“In fact, as more people buy earthquake insurance, the federal government could even see a reduction in the monies it pays out in disaster assistance after an earthquake,” Jones said.

Under the proposed legislation, the federal government would guarantee debt issued by a qualified state earthquake insurance program to pay earthquake losses. In order to qualify for the guarantee, the state program would have to demonstrate to the Treasury its ability to pay back any loan that it would seek a guarantee on, Jones office reported.

Currently, only 12 percent of Californians carry earthquake insurance leaving almost nine out of 10 California homeowners and renters exposed to potentially devastating financial loss in the event of an earthquake, according to Jones.

As the recent large earthquakes in Haiti, Chile, New Zealand and now Japan demonstrate, it’s not a question of if there will be an earthquake in California it’s a question of when, Jones reported.

The United States Geological Survey and the California Geological Survey say there is a 99.7 percent chance of a 6.7 magnitude earthquake or larger striking California in the next 30 years.

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