Does Mexico, MO need an earthquake retrofit?

Under the seismic model IBC and ASCE 7 use for new construction, Mexico is Category C. Moderate seismic hazard. Code adds irregular-building restrictions and requires bracing of some nonstructural components (e.g. tall shelving, water heaters) in addition to structural detailing. That puts Mexico in the 68th percentile nationally for seismic hazard - higher than 68% of the 4,875 US cities USGS was checked against here.

Where Mexico sits in Missouri

The raw figures: peak ground acceleration 0.08g, short-period spectral response 0.168g, 1-second spectral response 0.097g. Among 135 Missouri cities in this dataset, Mexico ranks 88 for seismic hazard, the 35th percentile within the state. About 11,482 people live in Mexico, Missouri.

What a retrofit costs in Mexico

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

Insuring against this, not just retrofitting

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 Mexico address.

More on how this number was built

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