Catastrophe bonds continue to be floated, apparently about one a month. For example, in August, Swiss Re and RMS were involved in issuing a bond to protect Zurich American Insurance Corporation against hurricanes and certain earthquakes. The earthquakes in question are on the New Madrid fault, named for New Madrid Missouri, which last shook in the winter of 1811-1812 with three magnitude 8 (that’s right magnitude eight; more on that later) quakes, that rang church bells in Charleston, S.C.

This cat bond, like most, has a high trigger: $1 billion in losses from a single hurricane or earthquake. With the current population of the to-be-affected area, a New Madrid quake could trigger it.

-jsq