Does Hyrum, UT need an earthquake retrofit?

Hyrum carries Seismic Design Category D under USGS's ASCE 7-16 model. 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. That puts Hyrum in the 89th percentile nationally for seismic hazard - higher than 89% of the 4,875 US cities USGS was checked against here.

How Hyrum compares

USGS's underlying values for Hyrum: 0.455g peak ground acceleration, 1.049g at short period, 0.355g at 1 second. Within Utah alone, Hyrum ranks 65 of 95 cities by seismic hazard - the 32th percentile in-state. Hyrum has a population of about 11,043.

Retrofit economics for Hyrum

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 Utah 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 Utah.

Insuring against this, not just retrofitting

A Hyrum 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 Hyrum's figures come from

Hyrum'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 Hyrum.