The national earthquake risk model has made it possible for the first time to quantify the impacts of earthquakes in Switzerland. Over a 100-year period, earthquakes in Switzerland can be expected to cause economic damage of CHF 11 to 44 billion to buildings and their contents (such as furnitures) alone. In total, around 150 to 1,600 people would lose their lives and an estimated 40,000 to 175,000 would become homeless on a short-term or long-term basis. On top of this, there is damage to infrastructure and losses due to other effects of earthquakes such as landslides, fires or business interruptions. However, these are not yet included in the model. The earthquake risk is not evenly distributed over time, but is dominated by rare, catastrophic earthquakes that usually happen without warning.
You can learn more about earthquake risk in Switzerland in the following video: