Fife, WA: what USGS's seismic model says

USGS's ASCE 7-16 seismic design model - the same standard building codes use - places Fife in Seismic Design Category D: High seismic hazard - this is the category most of coastal California, the Pacific Northwest, and other active fault regions fall into. Code mandates significant seismic detailing and restricts irregular structural configurations. This is the category the Brace + Bolt scope (cripple-wall bracing, foundation bolting) is built for. Nationally, Fife ranks above 90% of the 4,875 cities in this dataset for seismic hazard - the 90th percentile.

How Fife compares

USGS's underlying values for Fife: 0.5g peak ground acceleration, 1.307g at short period, 0.45g at 1 second. Within Washington alone, Fife ranks 62 of 125 cities by seismic hazard - the 51th percentile in-state. Fife has a population of about 11,077.

Bracing and bolting: the actual cost

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 Washington 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 Washington.

What this means for insurance

A Fife 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 Fife's figures come from

Fife's Category D 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 D does and doesn't tell you about Fife.