Columbia Heights, MN: what USGS's seismic model says

USGS's ASCE 7-16 seismic design model - the same standard building codes use - places Columbia Heights in Seismic Design Category A: Lowest seismic design category. Building code requires no seismic-specific detailing here beyond ordinary construction practice. That puts Columbia Heights in the 5th percentile nationally for seismic hazard - higher than 5% of the 4,875 US cities USGS was checked against here.

Columbia Heights by the numbers

USGS's underlying values for Columbia Heights: 0.023g peak ground acceleration, 0.048g at short period, 0.029g at 1 second. Within Minnesota alone, Columbia Heights ranks 65 of 155 cities by seismic hazard - the 58th percentile in-state. Columbia Heights has a population of about 22,358.

What a retrofit costs in Columbia Heights

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 Minnesota 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 Minnesota.

Earthquake insurance for a Columbia Heights home

A Columbia Heights 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 Columbia Heights's figures come from

Columbia Heights'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 Columbia Heights.