Does Coos Bay, OR need an earthquake retrofit?

USGS's ASCE 7-16 seismic model can't even fit Coos Bay onto its standard code table - ground motion here (peak ground acceleration 0.815g) is past what the table covers, which under §11.4.8 means a site-specific geotechnical study, not a standard letter grade. Nationally, Coos Bay ranks above 99% of the 4,875 cities in this dataset for seismic hazard - the 99th percentile.

How Coos Bay compares

USGS's underlying values for Coos Bay: 0.815g peak ground acceleration, 1.635g at short period, 0.821g at 1 second. Within Oregon alone, Coos Bay ranks 2 of 80 cities by seismic hazard - the 99th percentile in-state. Coos Bay has a population of about 15,801.

What a retrofit costs in Coos Bay

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 Oregon 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 Oregon.

Insuring against this, not just retrofitting

A Coos Bay 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 Coos Bay's figures come from

Coos Bay's Category rating 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 does and doesn't tell you about Coos Bay.