Mequon, WI: what USGS's seismic model says

Under the seismic model IBC and ASCE 7 use for new construction, Mequon is Category B. Low seismic hazard. Code requires basic seismic detailing (bracing, connections) but no special structural system restrictions. That puts Mequon in the 18th percentile nationally for seismic hazard - higher than 18% of the 4,875 US cities USGS was checked against here.

How Mequon compares

The raw figures: peak ground acceleration 0.034g, short-period spectral response 0.071g, 1-second spectral response 0.046g. Among 157 Wisconsin cities in this dataset, Mequon ranks 75 for seismic hazard, the 53th percentile within the state. About 25,329 people live in Mequon, Wisconsin.

Bracing and bolting: the actual cost

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

What this means for insurance

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 Mequon address.

More on how this number was built

The methodology guide covers exactly how USGS's public design-maps API produced Mequon'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.