Erie's Seismic Design Category, explained

Erie carries Seismic Design Category A under USGS's ASCE 7-16 model. Lowest seismic design category. Building code requires no seismic-specific detailing here beyond ordinary construction practice. Rank it against the rest of the country and Erie sits at the 15th percentile for seismic hazard among 4,875 US cities.

Erie by the numbers

USGS's underlying values for Erie: 0.054g peak ground acceleration, 0.107g at short period, 0.039g at 1 second. Within Pennsylvania alone, Erie ranks 168 of 193 cities by seismic hazard - the 13th percentile in-state. Erie has a population of about 92,940.

What a retrofit costs in Erie

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 Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania.

What this means for insurance

A Erie 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 Erie's figures come from

Erie'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 Erie.