CA
California
Comprehensive climate risk and disaster history profile
35
Billion-Dollar Events
$244.9B
Total Economic Impact
58
Counties
90.59
Avg Risk Score
Top Natural Hazards
Based on FEMA National Risk Index data across all 58 counties
Earthquake
95.98
Avg Risk Score
Drought
92.3
Avg Risk Score
Wildfire
92.12
Avg Risk Score
Landslide
84.54
Avg Risk Score
Riverine Flooding
78.58
Avg Risk Score
Heat Wave
76.49
Avg Risk Score
Tsunami
57.77
Avg Risk Score
Coastal Flooding
56.38
Avg Risk Score
Disaster Type Breakdown
Historical billion-dollar events by category (1980-2024)
wildfire
17 events
$158.7B
drought
10 events
$71.7B
flooding
5 events
$11.1B
severe-storm
2 events
$2.1B
freeze
1 events
$1.4B
Disaster Trends by Decade
How disaster frequency and costs have changed over time
Highest Risk Counties
Counties with the highest overall risk scores based on FEMA NRI
| Rank | County | Risk Score | Risk Rating | SVI Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Los Angeles | 100.0 | 86.3% | |
| 2 | Riverside | 99.94 | 82.0% | |
| 3 | San Bernardino | 99.9 | 88.6% | |
| 4 | Alameda | 99.87 | 51.3% | |
| 5 | Santa Clara | 99.84 | 36.1% | |
| 6 | Orange | 99.78 | 56.9% | |
| 7 | San Diego | 99.68 | 70.6% | |
| 8 | Contra Costa | 99.59 | 47.9% | |
| 9 | Ventura | 99.43 | 62.5% | |
| 10 | Santa Barbara | 99.4 | 86.7% |
Recent Major Events
Most costly billion-dollar disasters in the past 10 years
wildfire
Jan 2025
$60.0B
30 fatalities
wildfire
Jun 2018
$24.0B
106 fatalities
drought
Jan 2022
$21.0B
136 fatalities
wildfire
Jun 2017
$18.0B
54 fatalities
wildfire
Aug 2020
$16.5B
46 fatalities
wildfire
Jun 2021
$10.4B
8 fatalities
drought
Jan 2021
$8.4B
229 fatalities
wildfire
Jun 2019
$4.5B
3 fatalities
drought
Jun 2020
$4.5B
45 fatalities
flooding
Dec 2022
$4.5B
22 fatalities
California Earthquake Risk
Historical earthquake data and seismic risk information
30
Significant Earthquakes
$54.11B
Total Economic Loss
3456
Total Fatalities
Major Historical Earthquakes
1994 Northridge Earthquake
M6.7
$40.0B
1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake
M6.9
$6.0B
2019 Ridgecrest Earthquake
M7.1
$5.3B
2014 California Earthquake (M6.0)
M6.0
$0.62B
1906 San Francisco Earthquake
M7.8
$0.52B
Risk Factors
- Located on the Pacific Ring of Fire
- San Andreas Fault runs through the state
- High population density in seismic zones
- Building codes updated after major earthquakes
- 30 significant earthquakes recorded since 1812
Explore California Risk Data
Get personalized insights for your location within California