EQC was started by the government in 1945 and currently has about $5.6 billion in the fund, which is backed up by reinsurance from overseas groups.
“The focus is now on assessing damage in the suburbs, with the priority being Brooklands and Bexley,” said Ben Fox, senior catastrophe response analyst with RMS. “An estimated 500 buildings have already been condemned in the region, and approximately 100,000 of the 160,000, or almost two-thirds, of the houses in the region suffered some degree of damage during the earthquake.”