A California homeowners, condo, or renters policy does not cover earthquake damage to the home or its contents. Earthquake coverage is a separate policy, bought through the California Earthquake Authority from a participating insurer that wrote the home policy, or as a private earthquake policy. The insurer must offer that coverage when the residential policy is issued, and again every other year if the offer is not accepted.
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Does my homeowners policy cover earthquake damage?
No. The notice required by Insurance Code section 10083 says the residential policy does not cover earthquake damage to the home or its contents, and that a separate earthquake policy is needed. Section 10081 says the insurer may not issue or deliver that policy unless earthquake coverage is offered. Section 10088 says a policy that does not cover earthquake does not cover a loss when earthquake is a proximate cause. The Department of Insurance says a homeowners or renters policy must still cover fire damage caused by or following an earthquake.
What does an earthquake policy cover?
Section 10089.6 creates the California Earthquake Authority and authorizes it to sell basic residential earthquake insurance, and no other insurance business. Section 10089.21 calls the Authority a public instrumentality of the State of California. You buy a CEA policy from the participating insurer that already writes the home policy, not from the Authority itself.
The Authority's homeowners options include the dwelling, personal property, loss of use, and emergency repairs to protect covered property. The Department's earthquake brochure describes the same three parts for basic coverage: the dwelling, personal property, and additional living expenses while the home is repaired or the area is evacuated. Limits, and any cap on emergency repairs, are printed on the declarations page. The brochure also says earthquake coverage is more limited than the homeowners policy and is meant to help put a roof back over the household.
How does the earthquake deductible work?
The deductible is a percentage of the dwelling coverage limit. You choose that percentage from the options the policy offers, and the declarations page prints it. The earthquake policy pays covered dwelling damage only after the loss passes that amount. If the covered loss is smaller, the notice in section 10083 says you may not receive a payment. On a California Earthquake Authority homeowners policy, loss of use is not subject to that deductible. Personal property follows the form you choose. The glossary entry is the short definition, and the product page is earthquake insurance.
Is San Joaquin County on a mapped earthquake fault?
The county's hazard plan says San Joaquin County does not sit directly on a major active fault, and that shaking can still reach the county from regional faults. The 2026 multi-jurisdictional hazard mitigation plan posted by the San Joaquin County Office of Emergency Services names the San Andreas and Hayward faults as examples that are not under the Central Valley floor, and it says smaller local faults in the valley can also produce shaking. The plan's earthquake chapter treats the whole planning area as exposed to that hazard.
The California Geological Survey's 2023 geologic map of the Stockton quadrangle, covering San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties, locates the concealed Stockton, Vernalis, and West Tracy faults. A parcel check belongs on the Survey's Earthquake Zones of Required Investigation map, beside the Alquist-Priolo fault zones the Survey draws around surface traces of active faults.
Can a retrofit change the earthquake premium?
A qualifying seismic retrofit can qualify the house for a premium discount on a California Earthquake Authority policy. The Authority's discount page says the retrofit is verified on a dwelling retrofit verification form, signed by a licensed contractor or a civil or structural engineer, and sent to the residential insurer. If the work was done through Earthquake Brace + Bolt, the form can carry that program's verification number instead.
The California Residential Mitigation Program runs Earthquake Brace + Bolt. The program helps pay to bolt an older wood-frame house to its foundation and to brace cripple walls in a crawl space. It also has programs for a living space over a garage and for some small multi-unit buildings. Whether a Stockton, Tracy, or Manteca house qualifies, and what the discount is on that policy, is on the offer the insurer prints. Send the retrofit paperwork with the declarations page so we can ask the insurer to apply it.
Do condo owners and renters buy earthquake coverage too?
Yes, as a separate policy, not as a line already inside the condo or renters contract. Section 10087 defines residential property insurance for this chapter to include an individually owned house of not more than four dwelling units, an individually owned condominium unit, a mobilehome, and a tenant's policy for personal contents. The Department's brochure says a condo owner can buy earthquake coverage for the interior, belongings, and living elsewhere while repairs are underway, and that a renter can buy it for belongings and for living elsewhere.
The Authority publishes a renters earthquake policy beside the homeowners policy. The association master policy, if it has earthquake coverage, is a different contract. Our condo and renters pages cover the companion policies. How much homeowners insurance you need is the dwelling-limit conversation beside Coverage A.
What does an earth-movement exclusion mean?
An earth-movement exclusion is the policy wording that leaves earthquake shaking, and often landslide and other ground movement, off the homeowners contract. Section 10083's required notice states the point in plain language: the residential property policy does not cover earthquake damage to the home or its contents. Section 10088 adds that, without a specific earthquake provision, the policy is not held to cover a loss when earthquake is a proximate cause, even if another cause contributes.
The same section says that rule does not change section 2071, the standard fire policy, and it does not stop an insurer from covering direct loss by explosion, theft, or glass breakage resulting from an earthquake when the policy specifically provides that coverage. Fire that follows an earthquake is the exception the Department describes. Cracks, a shifted foundation, and toppled contents are the earthquake policy's subject, up to its limits and after its deductible.
How does the homeowners policy compare with an earthquake policy?
Use the row that matches the loss, then send the paper in the last column. The homeowners policy and the earthquake policy are two contracts. One does not replace the other.
| Loss | What the home policy does | What an earthquake policy adds | What to send us |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shaking, cracking, a shifted foundation | Not covered. Section 10083's notice says the residential policy does not cover earthquake damage. | Dwelling damage from the earthquake, after the deductible on the declarations page. | Home declarations page and the dwelling limit. |
| Fire that follows an earthquake | The Department says the homeowners or renters policy must cover that fire damage. | Earthquake policies usually leave fire to the home policy, because the home policy already covers fire. | Both declarations pages if a fire and shaking happened together. |
| Belongings | Covered for the perils the home or renters policy names, not for earthquake shaking. | Personal property, up to the limit chosen on the earthquake policy. | A note if you want contents coverage included. |
| Living elsewhere during repairs | Loss of use after a covered homeowners peril, such as fire. | Additional living expenses after a covered earthquake loss, when that coverage is on the form. | The loss-of-use limit you want quoted. |
How do I add earthquake coverage this week?
Work the week in this order. Insurance City Agency, LLC prepares the quote at 956 W Robinhood Dr, Stockton, CA 95207, CA License #6003045. Call (209) 670-1556.
- Pull the current homeowners, condo, or renters declarations page. Circle the dwelling limit, or the contents limit if you rent.
- Find the most recent earthquake offer letter if the insurer already mailed one. Section 10083 says a mailed offer may be treated as declined if you do not accept it within 30 days of the mailing.
- Write the year built and the foundation type: slab, raised with a crawl space, or post-and-pier. Note any cripple walls.
- Gather retrofit paperwork: a completed dwelling retrofit verification form, invoices, or an Earthquake Brace + Bolt verification number.
- Ask the insurer that writes the home policy for the earthquake offer. A participating insurer offers the Authority's policy. Another insurer offers its own earthquake policy. Section 10083 allows the offer before the policy, with it, or within 60 days after issue or renewal.
- Read the dwelling limit, the contents limit, the additional-living-expense limit, and the deductible share on the offer before you accept it.
- Keep the home policy in force. A California Earthquake Authority policy depends on that companion residential policy. If you are also replacing the home policy, bind the replacement first. The switch guide is the order of operations for that change. A nonrenewal notice has its own deadline.
What should I send for an earthquake quote in San Joaquin County?
Send the declarations page, the year built, the foundation type, any retrofit paperwork, and the current Coverage A limit. Add the city if the house is in Stockton, Tracy, Manteca, Lodi, or elsewhere in the county, and say whether the home is a house, a condo unit, or a rental you occupy. Call (209) 670-1556 or use the form on this page. The homeowners quote, if you also need the companion policy, is the separate button above.
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Reviewed by Santo Militello, California-licensed agent and owner (CA Lic. #1737723). Our licensed team brings more than 70 years of combined insurance experience. Insurance City Agency, LLC · CA License #6003045 · 956 W Robinhood Dr, Stockton, CA 95207 · (209) 670-1556. Last reviewed 2026-10-23.
Insurance City Agency, LLC · CA License #6003045.
