Alpine's Seismic Design Category, explained

USGS's ASCE 7-16 seismic design model - the same standard building codes use - places Alpine in Seismic Design Category D: High seismic hazard - this is the category most of coastal California, the Pacific Northwest, and other active fault regions fall into. Code mandates significant seismic detailing and restricts irregular structural configurations. This is the category the Brace + Bolt scope (cripple-wall bracing, foundation bolting) is built for. That puts Alpine in the 94th percentile nationally for seismic hazard - higher than 94% of the 4,875 US cities USGS was checked against here.

How Alpine compares

USGS's underlying values for Alpine: 0.622g peak ground acceleration, 1.365g at short period, 0.513g at 1 second. Within Utah alone, Alpine ranks 26 of 95 cities by seismic hazard - the 73th percentile in-state. Alpine has a population of about 10,548.

Bracing and bolting: the actual cost

A full earthquake retrofit typically runs $5,000-$10,000 nationally (around $7,000 typical), driven mainly by house size and foundation type, not by Utah specifically. California's Earthquake Brace + Bolt grant, which covers a large share of this cost, is a California-only program and does not apply in Utah.

Earthquake insurance for a Alpine home

A Alpine homeowner cannot buy a standalone earthquake policy in most cases - it is added to an existing homeowners policy as an endorsement, so the place to start is a regular home-insurance quote.

Where Alpine's figures come from

Alpine's Category D and every number above trace to USGS's own ASCE 7-16 Design Maps service - see the methodology guide. See the category explainer for what Category D does and doesn't tell you about Alpine.