The Rangitata Gorge earthquake occurred at 9.15am, 20 September 2023. This was a Magnitude 6.0 earthquake at a depth of 11km. The magnitude and proximity of the quake was large enough for immediate review by the Bounce team - especially for all our customers in the Canterbury region.

GeoNet reported that the quake was centered on the interface between the Ben McLeod Fault and the Lake Heron Fault lines. Located 45km north of Geraldine.

The quake was picked up across many parts of the country with a large number of GeoNet strong motions stations picking up the shaking. The three largest Peak Ground Velocity (PGV) ground movements were recorded at the following GeoNet stations:

• RataPeaks GeoNet Sensor (code RPZ): Recorded a PGV of 13cm per second. This is a good shake but not large enough to trigger the Bounce policy which is activated when the ground moves by at least 20cm per second.
• Peel Forest GeoNet Sensor (code: PEEC): Recorded a PGV of 5cm per second.
• Mount Somer School GeoNet Sensor (code: MSMC): Recorded a PGV of 3cm per second.
• At these measures, no Bounce customer would have been eligible to make a claim in respect of the earthquake.

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How does a Bounce parametric earthquake policy work?

The Bounce policy applies a stepped payment structure that allows us to respond to large earthquakes as well as smaller ones as measured by Peak Ground Velocity (PGV), or the extent of ground movement.

The Bounce policy is triggered by an earthquake with a shake intensity measure of at least 20cm per second (using Peak Ground Velocity - PGV) with a full payment made when the ground moves by 30com per second (approximately equivalent to a M6 quake (pending depth and proximity of the quake).

• Payments are triggered by trusted and independent data from GeoNet.
• Mapping of your insured location to your nearest sensor confirms claim eligibility.
• Simple text-based confirmation of impact and that to the best of your belief that you have experienced a Covered Loss before payment is processed.
• Funds can be used for any purpose to support your recovery.

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