Does McAllen, TX need an earthquake retrofit?

USGS's ASCE 7-16 seismic design model - the same standard building codes use - places McAllen in Seismic Design Category A: 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 McAllen sits at the 1th percentile for seismic hazard among 4,875 US cities.

McAllen by the numbers

USGS's underlying values for McAllen: 0.019g peak ground acceleration, 0.042g at short period, 0.013g at 1 second. Within Texas alone, McAllen ranks 363 of 384 cities by seismic hazard - the 5th percentile in-state. McAllen has a population of about 148,782.

Retrofit economics for McAllen

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.

Insuring against this, not just retrofitting

A McAllen 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 McAllen's figures come from

McAllen'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 McAllen.