El Campo's Seismic Design Category, explained

USGS's ASCE 7-16 seismic design model - the same standard building codes use - places El Campo in Seismic Design Category A: Lowest seismic design category. Building code requires no seismic-specific detailing here beyond ordinary construction practice. Nationally, El Campo ranks above 10% of the 4,875 cities in this dataset for seismic hazard - the 10th percentile.

El Campo by the numbers

USGS's underlying values for El Campo: 0.029g peak ground acceleration, 0.061g at short period, 0.031g at 1 second. Within Texas alone, El Campo ranks 276 of 384 cities by seismic hazard - the 28th percentile in-state. El Campo has a population of about 12,176.

Retrofit economics for El Campo

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.

What this means for insurance

A El Campo 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 El Campo's figures come from

El Campo'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 El Campo.