QuakeRetrofitCheck

Does my house need an earthquake retrofit?

All 4,875 US cities USGS was checked against. Start typing.

USGS's own building-code seismic hazard model, the same one contractors and inspectors use, scored for 4,875 US cities. See your city's official Seismic Design Category, then what retrofitting actually costs after California's Brace + Bolt grant. A city-level category, not a substitute for a structural engineer's assessment of one specific house.

Seismic Design Category, A to F

USGS scores every point in the country against ASCE 7-16, the standard building code uses to decide how much seismic bracing new construction legally needs there. It is not this site's own scale.

  1. AMinimal
  2. BLow
  3. CModerate
  4. DHigh
  5. EVery high
  6. F+Near-fault

What retrofitting actually costs, after the grant

Typical bracing + bolting $3,000–$7,000
California Brace + Bolt grant $3,000–$10,000
Net, income-eligible CA household $0

California only, ZIP-code participation and a pre-1980 raised-foundation house required. Outside California, a full retrofit runs $5,000–$10,000 with no equivalent grant found.

See every state's earthquake risk overview
Or browse all 4,875 cities A-Z

A building-code category, not a guess

QuakeRetrofitCheck reports USGS's own Seismic Design Category for 4,875 US cities - the same letter grade (A through F) that ASCE 7 and the IBC use to decide how much seismic bracing new construction legally needs at that point. 1,008 cities in this dataset are Category D or more severe.

The category is not the whole answer

A city's category describes the ground motion at that point, not any one specific house - foundation type, age, and construction all change what a real retrofit needs. This site pairs the category with sourced retrofit cost figures and California's Brace + Bolt grant, so the next question - is retrofitting worth it - has real numbers behind it, not just a risk score.