Howden Re and Temblor Enter Research Partnership to Enhance Turkish Earthquake Risk and Impact Assessment

London, 8 August – Howden Re, the reinsurance and risk advisory arm of Howden, announces a partnership with Temblor Inc. (“Temblor”), a leading catastrophe (“cat”) modelling company specialising in seismic hazard and risk assessment. Temblor will provide Howden Re with access to their SiteAmp model, which will provide critical data-driven insights on both the susceptibility to and impact of earthquakes in Turkey. As part of the partnership, Howden Re’s Head of Model Research & Evaluation for International, Myrto Papaspiliou, will join Temblor’s Scientific Advisory Board.

Founded in 2014 by two scientists who had worked at the United States Geological Survey, Temblor provides insurance and reinsurance firms, insurance-linked security communities with accurate, accessible, and digestible earthquake models. With SiteAmp, Howden Re will greatly benefit from Temblor’s unique soil amplification models to better capture one of the key drivers behind the widespread damage observed during the 2023 Kahramanmaras events, that led to over $100bn in economic and $6.2bn in insured losses, and support with greater confidence risk management decisions of Turkish cedants. Currently, Temblor has the most granular soil modelling capabilities on the market and, while the initial partnership will focus on Turkey, Howden Re and Temblor will explore expanding into additional earthquake-prone regions in Europe, Asia and South America. 

SiteAmp has several core advantages, including its resolution, which is 50 times finer than other products on the market and delivers exceptional detail and precision in soil amplification mapping. Furthermore, SiteAmp’s validation, underpinned by over 6,000 global data points, ensures robust accuracy and reliability. The model is continuously updated using machine-learning algorithms, which integrate new data to enhance its predictive capabilities. 

Myrto Papaspiliou, Head of Model Research & Evaluation – International, Howden Re commented: “The 2023 events were yet another reminder of what the implications of a large earthquake in proximity to Istanbul could be and further underscored the importance of earthquake preparedness. We firmly believe it is fundamental to harvest the best science and data in order to overcome model limitations, support our clients in the quantification of their risk, and increase earthquake resilience. With that in mind, we are thrilled to partner with Temblor as we strongly believe that their offering uniquely enhances the modelling tools we currently have available in this region.”   

This partnership comes as Howden expands its capabilities in the region and seeks to reinforce the extensive work already undertaken to bring the latest science and loss experience within the catastrophe modelling framework. Synthesising knowledge from the latest pan-European seismic hazard and risk studies (ESHM20 & ESRM20), detailed analytics and model calibration around the damage observations from the 2023 earthquakes in the region, and now Temblor’s groundbreaking SiteAmp model has allowed Howden Re to create a truly comprehensive and market leading view of risk for cedants in Turkey. 

Mario Baotic, Managing Director, International Growth Markets, Howden Re, added: “Recent earthquakes in Turkey have been devastating. Through partnering with Temblor, we will be able to give greater clarity to cedents and reinsurers, with updated science and data helping to minimise uncertainty in modelled loss estimates. I am very impressed by Temblor’s SiteAmp model and look forward to working with the Temblor team to support our clients in the region.”

Volkan Sevilgen, CTO and Co-founder, Temblor, commented: “We are proud to collaborate with Howden Re in incorporating Temblor's SiteAmp model into their offerings. This partnership underscores the critical role of advanced data and analytics in earthquake risk management, particularly for insurance companies operating in vulnerable regions like the Sea of Marmara. Together, we are setting new standards for risk assessment, enabling more accurate, data-driven decision-making, and ultimately enhancing the resilience of communities and the robustness of insurance portfolios against seismic threats.”