Amesbury, MA: what USGS's seismic model says

USGS's ASCE 7-16 seismic design model - the same standard building codes use - places Amesbury in Seismic Design Category C: Moderate seismic hazard. Code adds irregular-building restrictions and requires bracing of some nonstructural components (e.g. tall shelving, water heaters) in addition to structural detailing. Rank it against the rest of the country and Amesbury sits at the 78th percentile for seismic hazard among 4,875 US cities.

How Amesbury compares

USGS's underlying values for Amesbury: 0.226g peak ground acceleration, 0.358g at short period, 0.077g at 1 second. Within Massachusetts alone, Amesbury ranks 5 of 58 cities by seismic hazard - the 93th percentile in-state. Amesbury has a population of about 17,617.

What a retrofit costs in Amesbury

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 Massachusetts 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 Massachusetts.

Insuring against this, not just retrofitting

A Amesbury 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 Amesbury's figures come from

Amesbury's Category C 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 C does and doesn't tell you about Amesbury.