Welcome to the aftermath of the Great Eastern Earthquake of2011! Here in the D.C. area, not a newscast or weather report inthe days following that surprise temblor seemingly began withoutCarole King's “I Feel the Earth Move.” My personal iPod “Songs forEarthquakes” playlist would run more to AC/DC's “You Shook Me AllNight Long,” or at least John Mellencamp's “Crumblin' Down” Carolewould be included, but certainly far below Ted Nugent's“Stranglehold.”

And one of the great opportunities of even overhyped seismicevents are the lessons to be learned, or at least refreshed, bythose of us in the protection racket, aka the insurance industry.May I suggest three lessons?

1. What happens to me is always big news

No doubt much of the earth moving in the D.C./N.Y. corridor wasactually caused by thousands of Californians rolling on theirrespective floors, laughing various portions of their anatomy offbecause the eastern media actually considered what hit us as amajor event. “Earthquake?” the West Coasters would cackle throughtheir tears of hysteria. “I've felt greater shocks droppingTupperware on the carpet.”

Related: Read the article “Are Policyholders AdequatelyEducated?” by Mark E. Ruquet.

They may be right, but miss the point. Every time anyonebelittles the events affecting others, you risk missing the lesson.One of the key benefits taught in all basic insurance classes isthat protection from loss helps the insured “get a good night'ssleep.” But the difference between peaceful slumber and hours ofanxiety is what's in my head, not yours. So maybe in California youactually get used to the ground trembling, and after a while see itas a chance to make a quick smoothie without a blender. Your EastCoast compatriots are those crazy surfers who view every hurricaneevacuation order as a “Surf's up!” clarion call to head for thebeach. Be it earthquake or tidal wave, one man's disaster isanother man's opportunity of a lifetime. An astute insuranceadvisor would know the key to which lies in the eye of thebeholder, not the underwriter.

And asking “what lies” leads us to:

2. Fear is in the eye of the beholder

Hundreds of thousands of folks in the northeastern U.S. corridorwere surprised and shocked to feel their normally stablefoundations rock below their feet. And even having been through afew minor shudders in California, yours truly was astonished whenwhat I first thought to be just another 3-second shudder due tolow-flying military aircraft turned into a nearly minute-long,building-sized ride in the spin cycle. And if that wasn't enough,the sound of our 400-pound cat letting loose a banshee howl as hestreaked up the stairs from his obviously no longer stable basementhideaway is a scene I will not soon forget.

I know from the media that zoning boards andbuilding councils all over this area are now taking the potentialfor future earthquakes seriously. Are you? Are insurance providersnow adding earthquake coverage and risk management recommendationsto their checklists for our locality? I can hear some alreadysaying, “Oh, come on, what are the odds of another one?” Exactly.You tell me, Nostradamus.

What are the odds of another Category 4 hurricane season inFlorida? What are the odds my house will actually burn, and if so,what is the likelihood the fire damage will be sufficient torequire insurance for the full value of my home? What we do in thisindustry is help people live with their fears, not the odds. If Ihave it in my head that someone may break into my home and steal mybest stuff, I don't care that the odds of that are likely slim tonone; I want theft coverage.

Related: Read the article “The Day After and the Days After That”by Mark E. Ruquet.

It works in reverse as well. The majority of agents have “fire”in their heads so deep they would go apoplectic if a person didn'tsee the need for basic coverage, yet few lose sleep over the realfact that the average homeowner risks 50 percent more financialloss from termites (an average of $3,000 per affected home in 2008)versus fire ($2,122 per affected home).

When it comes to reality, too many agents can't escape the mindwarp of coverage classes to get their brains wrapped around whatfolks are really feeling, fearing and thinking. Take Grace Slick'sadvice and feed your head.

3. Unexpected shouldn't mean unprepared

I watched a top politician from the D.C. city government beinginterviewed about an ethics investigation and the reporter couldnot leave the proceedings without the inevitable post-Great Quakequestion: “So, Councilwoman, where were you when the quake hit?”Almost instantaneously this powerful woman, a leader of the localscene, unafraid to confront the highest authorities if there waseven a hint of impropriety in their pursuit of official duties,turned into a clearly relieved yet shaken fellow human being. Here,as close to a direct quote as I can recall, is her reply: “I was ina meeting at my office when the shaking began. At first, we thoughtit was a truck going by or something, but it kept going and thengot a lot stronger. Suddenly I was trying to remember—aren't yousupposed to go into the bathroom or stand in the door frame orsomething? Was it stop, drop and roll? Then police ran throughshouting 'everyone out of the building!' so we just ran out. It wasterrifying!”

Reread that with your risk management, protection adviser brainin gear. What jumps out at you that may have seemed unique to herexperience but is absolutely a standard pattern for losses?

First, she seems surprised the unexpected camealong as she was just going about her regular duties. I'll bite:What part of “unexpected” did she miss? Even a cursory review ofclaims reports reveals how folks commonly are blindsided by thevery events we think they all perfectly understand when they buyinsurance. The clear implication is no matter how much we like tothink our clients appreciate the protection we provide, in realitythey see an insurance purchase as a heinous requirement by someout-of-control regulator (work comp and auto liability), bank(property) or general contractor (liability) or just a sales pitch(for all the use I'll get out of this, I should just keep themoney). Perhaps we need to set aside our assumptions and startmaking a real effort to directly connect every recommendation tothe real world.

Second, “suddenly” she was trying to remember what to do. Simplefact: The actual time you need to act is not the time to be “tryingto remember.” In Yoda's famous and sage words, “There is no try; door do not.” When the house is in flames is not the time to bethinking, “Fire extinguisher—there was something about a fireextinguisher. Oh, and how were the kids going to get out of theupstairs bedrooms again?”

Related: Read the article ”Va. Earthquake Brings Concernfor Seismic Activity in Eastern U.S.”

I suggest a priority topic for all newsletter writers, bloggers,Facebook posters, Tweeters and plain old “thought I'd drop you anemail” folks: “What to do in case of loss” advice. And I think youcan tell from the previous parts of this article that I'm nottalking about those items from the policy about filing forms andkeeping receipts. Catastrophe planning is a major unmet need ofclients, yet so is everyday serious, practical “What to do in caseof” advice. Parents need an escape plan to get the kids out of thehouse. Your clients should know that protection offered by bathroomdoorways is an urban myth often touted for tornadoes, and “stop,drop and roll” is for fires. Yet at least she was close on thatsecond one: The actual earthquake advice is “stop, drop and cover,”as an effort to minimize injury from falling debris, often followedby “and hold on!”

And for those who think I exaggerate the need for and value ofgood insurance folks getting past the policy to really helpingpeople understand and deal with potential losses, I offer as finalevidence that the action our stressed official finally took—thevery action ironically recommended and often ordered by localauthorities—was exactly the wrong one: to get out of the buildings.To quote Kelly Huston, who ought to know as the assistant secretaryof the California Emergency Management Agency, the time to evacuatea building is after the shock, not during. As Huston told the NewYork Times, “The likelihood of a high-rise building's collapsingduring an initial tremor is very low. But the reality of yougetting hit by a big plate-glass window that shattered and cuts youand makes you bleed to death is more likely.”

So to summarize: She never saw it coming; in confusion didn'tknow what to do; and as a result did exactly the wrong thing.

Come to think of it, that sounds a lot like love.