Lubbock's Seismic Design Category, explained

Lubbock 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 Lubbock sits at the 13th percentile for seismic hazard among 4,875 US cities.

Where Lubbock sits in Texas

USGS's underlying values for Lubbock: 0.035g peak ground acceleration, 0.076g at short period, 0.03g at 1 second. Within Texas alone, Lubbock ranks 213 of 384 cities by seismic hazard - the 45th percentile in-state. Lubbock has a population of about 272,086.

What a retrofit costs in Lubbock

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 Texas 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 Texas.

What this means for insurance

A Lubbock 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 Lubbock's figures come from

Lubbock'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 Lubbock.