Lakewood, WA: what USGS's seismic model says

USGS's ASCE 7-16 seismic design model - the same standard building codes use - places Lakewood 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. That puts Lakewood in the 90th percentile nationally for seismic hazard - higher than 90% of the 4,875 US cities USGS was checked against here.

How Lakewood compares

USGS's underlying values for Lakewood: 0.5g peak ground acceleration, 1.352g at short period, 0.472g at 1 second. Within Washington alone, Lakewood ranks 57 of 125 cities by seismic hazard - the 55th percentile in-state. Lakewood has a population of about 62,709.

Retrofit economics for Lakewood

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.

Insuring against this, not just retrofitting

A Lakewood 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 Lakewood's figures come from

Lakewood'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 Lakewood.