Does Middleton, ID need an earthquake retrofit?

USGS's ASCE 7-16 seismic design model - the same standard building codes use - places Middleton in Seismic Design 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. Rank it against the rest of the country and Middleton sits at the 72th percentile for seismic hazard among 4,875 US cities.

Where Middleton sits in Idaho

The raw figures: peak ground acceleration 0.128g, short-period spectral response 0.29g, 1-second spectral response 0.106g. Among 36 Idaho cities in this dataset, Middleton ranks 27 for seismic hazard, the 26th percentile within the state. About 11,730 people live in Middleton, Idaho.

Retrofit economics for Middleton

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

Earthquake insurance for a Middleton 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 Middleton address.

More on how this number was built

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