Does Travel Insurance Cover Earthquakes? What Travelers Should Know

January 5, 2024 - Kate

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If you’re planning a trip to an earthquake-prone destination, you may be wondering: does travel insurance cover earthquakes? The answer is often yes, but coverage depends on your policy, when you purchase it, and how the earthquake affects your trip. 

Earthquakes can disrupt travel plans with little warning, leading to cancelled flights, damaged accommodations, medical emergencies, evacuation challenges, and other unexpected expenses. Having travel insurance in place before disaster strikes may help protect you financially if your trip is interrupted or cancelled due to an earthquake or related natural disaster. Most earthquake coverage extends to related natural disasters, such as tsunamis or landslides triggered by the initial quake.

In this guide, we’ll explain how earthquake travel insurance coverage typically works, what may be covered before or during your trip, common exclusions to know about, and why buying travel insurance early can make a major difference if unexpected disruptions occur.

Quick Answer: Does Travel Insurance Cover Earthquakes?

Usually, yes! Many travel insurance plans provide coverage if an earthquake disrupts your trip before or during travel. Depending on the policy, coverage may include trip cancellation, trip interruption, emergency medical treatment, medical evacuation, delayed travel expenses, or non-medical evacuation.

However, coverage usually only applies if the earthquake is considered an unforeseen event. If you purchase travel insurance after an earthquake becomes a known event, your coverage may be limited or excluded.

Always review your policy’s natural disaster coverage, exclusions, and evacuation benefits carefully before traveling.

Situation	Usually Covered?	Notes
Trip cancellation due to earthquake damage	Often yes	If the event affects your destination or accommodations
Trip interruption during travel	Often yes	May reimburse unused trip costs
Emergency medical treatment	Often yes	For covered injuries during travel
Medical evacuation	Often yes	If medically necessary
Non-medical evacuation	Sometimes	Not included in every plan
Flight delays caused by earthquakes	Sometimes	Depends on delay requirements
Traveling after a known earthquake event	Usually no	Often excluded as a foreseeable event
Fear of earthquakes without disruption	Usually no	Standard policies typically require direct impact

What Happens If an Earthquake Disrupts Your Trip?

An earthquake can affect your trip in several ways, depending on when and where it happens.

• Your flights could be delayed or cancelled

• Your hotel may become unsafe

• Local transportation could shut down

• You may need emergency medical care or evacuation assistance while abroad

Travel insurance could help cover certain unexpected expenses related to these disruptions, especially if the earthquake is considered an unforeseen event under your policy.

Yonder Expert Tip:

Your policy also gives you 24/7 access to an emergency assistance team that can help you find the nearest open hospital, coordinate a flight out, or provide translation services when local infrastructure is down.

Does Travel Insurance Cover Earthquakes?

The short answer: likely! Most travel insurance policies include coverage before or during your trip to protect against earthquakes affecting your travel plans. 

If your home, destination, destination accommodations, or trip start is affected by an earthquake or similar natural disaster like a tsunami, travel insurance could provide reimbursement of unexpected extra or lost travel expenses if you cancel or interrupt your trip. 

Keep reading below for a breakdown of the insurance benefits that could apply if you plan on traveling to an earthquake-prone destination anytime soon.

Trip Cancellation Due to Earthquakes

You’ll find that most travel insurance plans include trip cancellation coverage against natural disasters, like earthquakes, derailing your travel agenda. If your trip destination, home, vacation accommodations, or trip start are affected by an earthquake, causing you to cancel your trip or cut it short, there’s a good chance your unused nonrefundable trip costs could be reimbursed by trip cancellation benefits. Similar coverage would apply under trip interruption benefits if your trip was interrupted by an event like an earthquake.

Emergency Medical Expense & Medical Evacuation Coverage

If you get injured because of an earthquake during your trip, travel insurance could reimburse medical expenses incurred to seek treatment. Since earthquakes can strike at any time and can often cause significant physical hardship, having an insurance policy could ease the worry of being financially strained due to medical bills. 

Pro Tip: It’s best to contact the 24/7 emergency provider included with your policy if you experience a travel or medical emergency during your trip. Their team can help point you to the nearest medical facility, coordinate medical evacuations, and even assist with translation services.

Missed Connection Coverage

If your flight were to be delayed due to a natural disaster like an earthquake or tsunami, it’s possible you could miss your tour or cruise departure. Having a travel insurance policy could give you peace of mind knowing the additional expenses to get caught up with your trip could be covered. 

Non-Medical Evacuation Coverage

Though most travel insurance plans cover medical evacuations, not all include non-medical evacuation coverage for natural disasters. Non-medical evacuation could help coordinate and pay for transportation to the nearest safe place if you experience an earthquake or similar natural disaster during your trip.

Example Scenario: In a major earthquake, you may be physically safe but ‘trapped’ due to collapsed infrastructure. Standard medical evacuation won’t help you here. Look for plans that include ‘Non-Medical Evacuation’ to ensure you have a way out of the disaster zone even if you aren’t injured.

How Travel Insurance May Help After an Earthquake

Travel insurance coverage can vary depending on how an earthquake affects your trip and when the disruption happens. Here are a few common scenarios where coverage may apply:

Your hotel becomes unsafe before your trip

If an earthquake damages your accommodations and your trip needs to be canceled, trip cancellation benefits may reimburse unused prepaid, nonrefundable trip costs. If you aren’t sure what costs you can insure, check out our How to Calculate Your Total Trip Cost guide.

You’re injured during your trip

You get hurt during an earthquake at your destination and get treated at a local hospital. Your policy may help cover eligible medical expenses and emergency medical transportation, if needed.

Pro Tip: Keep all medical records and invoices of care you received since you’ll have to submit this with your travel insurance claim.

Your flight is cancelled due to earthquake damage

If airport closures or transportation disruptions delay your trip, travel delay or missed connection benefits may help reimburse additional hotel stays, meals, or transportation costs.

Local authorities order evacuations

The event has been declared a natural disaster by local authorities and you need to get somewhere safe. Travel insurance could cover the costs to coordinate transportation to get you back home or to the nearest place of safety.

You need to return home early

If your trip is interrupted because of earthquake-related damage to your accommodations or prevents you from reaching your next destination, trip interruption coverage may reimburse eligible unused trip expenses and transportation costs home.

Pro Tip:

The accommodations you booked for your trip must typically be “uninhabitable” by the management company for travel insurance coverage to apply. Check the policy’s definitions for this term to better understand the qualifications.

Is Earthquake Travel Insurance Coverage Worth It?

Earthquakes can create travel problems that go far beyond cancelled plans. In some destinations, a major earthquake may damage roads, airports, hospitals, hotels, or communication systems, making it difficult to access medical care, transportation, or even safe accommodations during your trip.

If you’re traveling internationally, these situations can become especially expensive because many domestic health insurance plans offer little or no coverage abroad. Emergency medical treatment, ambulance transportation, extended hotel stays, or last-minute flights home can quickly lead to significant out-of-pocket costs.

Evacuation can also become more complicated after a major earthquake. Local transportation may shut down, airports can experience delays, and travelers may need help coordinating transportation to safer areas or alternative accommodations. All travel insurance plans on Yonder Travel Insurance’s site include emergency assistance services that can help travelers navigate these disruptions during stressful situations overseas.

Travel insurance may be especially worth considering if you’re:

• visiting earthquake-prone destinations

• traveling during seasons with increased natural disaster risk

• booking expensive nonrefundable trips

• taking cruises or guided tours with strict cancellation policies

• traveling internationally without strong overseas health coverage

While no one expects an earthquake to disrupt their trip, having travel insurance in place before you travel can help reduce the financial and logistical challenges that often follow unexpected natural disasters.

 

“At the bare minimum, it will give you peace of mind and the ability to cancel without losing money,” says Terry Boynton, co-founder and president of Yonder Travel Insurance. 

What Is a Known Event in Travel Insurance?

Travel insurance is designed to protect against unexpected events. Once an earthquake becomes publicly known, insurers may classify it as a foreseeable or “known” event.

This means coverage may not apply if you:

• Buy insurance after the earthquake occurs

• Purchase coverage after government warnings are issued

• Wait until travel disruptions are already expected

Buying travel insurance early can help maximize your coverage options before unexpected events happen.

Don’t Wait to Buy Insurance

Luckily, if you purchase travel insurance before your trip and an unexpected earthquake strikes, you’ll likely be covered for what is considered an “unforeseen natural disaster”. If you only take one piece of advice from us, this might be the more important one: Don’t wait until the last minute to buy travel insurance. 

Pro Tip: If your trip is affected by an earthquake or similar natural disaster, filing a claim is your next step once you return home. You can learn all the details in our comprehensive article on how to file a travel insurance claim.

Travel insurance may help protect you financially if an earthquake disrupts your trip through cancellations, medical emergencies, delays, or evacuations. Because coverage varies between policies, reviewing natural disaster benefits before you travel is one of the best ways to avoid unexpected expenses during emergencies abroad.

Does Travel Insurance Cover Earthquakes FAQ

Tags: travel insurance, earthquake