Maricopa, AZ: what USGS's seismic model says

USGS's ASCE 7-16 seismic design model - the same standard building codes use - places Maricopa in Seismic Design Category B: Low seismic hazard. Code requires basic seismic detailing (bracing, connections) but no special structural system restrictions. That puts Maricopa in the 47th percentile nationally for seismic hazard - higher than 47% of the 4,875 US cities USGS was checked against here.

Maricopa by the numbers

The raw figures: peak ground acceleration 0.072g, short-period spectral response 0.165g, 1-second spectral response 0.065g. Among 57 Arizona cities in this dataset, Maricopa ranks 57 for seismic hazard, the 0th percentile within the state. About 76,654 people live in Maricopa, Arizona.

Retrofit economics for Maricopa

Outside California, no state-level retrofit grant equivalent to Brace + Bolt could be found for Arizona. A typical retrofit still runs $5,000-$10,000 nationally, about $7,000 for a common single-family job.

Earthquake insurance for a Maricopa home

Outside California, earthquake coverage is typically sold as an endorsement added to a standard homeowners policy, not a separate product - worth asking about directly when getting a home-insurance quote for a Maricopa address.

More on how this number was built

The methodology guide covers exactly how USGS's public design-maps API produced Maricopa's numbers. The guide to what a Seismic Design Category actually means covers why a category is never a substitute for an engineer's assessment of one specific house.