Fond du Lac's Seismic Design Category, explained

Fond du Lac 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. That puts Fond du Lac in the 10th percentile nationally for seismic hazard - higher than 10% of the 4,875 US cities USGS was checked against here.

How Fond du Lac compares

USGS's underlying values for Fond du Lac: 0.029g peak ground acceleration, 0.06g at short period, 0.041g at 1 second. Within Wisconsin alone, Fond du Lac ranks 98 of 157 cities by seismic hazard - the 38th percentile in-state. Fond du Lac has a population of about 44,469.

Retrofit economics for Fond du Lac

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 Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin.

Earthquake insurance for a Fond du Lac home

A Fond du Lac 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 Fond du Lac's figures come from

Fond du Lac'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 Fond du Lac.