Beaver Dam's Seismic Design Category, explained

Beaver Dam carries Seismic Design Category B under USGS's ASCE 7-16 model. Low seismic hazard. Code requires basic seismic detailing (bracing, connections) but no special structural system restrictions. That puts Beaver Dam in the 17th percentile nationally for seismic hazard - higher than 17% of the 4,875 US cities USGS was checked against here.

Beaver Dam by the numbers

USGS's underlying values for Beaver Dam: 0.032g peak ground acceleration, 0.066g at short period, 0.044g at 1 second. Within Wisconsin alone, Beaver Dam ranks 88 of 157 cities by seismic hazard - the 44th percentile in-state. Beaver Dam has a population of about 16,443.

Retrofit economics for Beaver Dam

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 Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin.

Earthquake insurance for a Beaver Dam home

A Beaver Dam 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 Beaver Dam's figures come from

Beaver Dam's Category B 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 B does and doesn't tell you about Beaver Dam.