Austin, TX: what USGS's seismic model says

USGS's ASCE 7-16 seismic design model - the same standard building codes use - places Austin in Seismic Design Category A: Lowest seismic design category. Building code requires no seismic-specific detailing here beyond ordinary construction practice. That puts Austin in the 8th percentile nationally for seismic hazard - higher than 8% of the 4,875 US cities USGS was checked against here.

How Austin compares

USGS's underlying values for Austin: 0.025g peak ground acceleration, 0.053g at short period, 0.031g at 1 second. Within Texas alone, Austin ranks 315 of 384 cities by seismic hazard - the 18th percentile in-state. Austin has a population of about 993,588.

What a retrofit costs in Austin

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 Texas 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 Texas.

Insuring against this, not just retrofitting

A Austin 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 Austin's figures come from

Austin's Category A 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 A does and doesn't tell you about Austin.