Montrose, CO: what USGS's seismic model says

USGS's ASCE 7-16 seismic design model - the same standard building codes use - places Montrose 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. That puts Montrose in the 77th percentile nationally for seismic hazard - higher than 77% of the 4,875 US cities USGS was checked against here.

Montrose by the numbers

The raw figures: peak ground acceleration 0.198g, short-period spectral response 0.328g, 1-second spectral response 0.076g. Among 79 Colorado cities in this dataset, Montrose ranks 7 for seismic hazard, the 92th percentile within the state. About 21,646 people live in Montrose, Colorado.

Retrofit economics for Montrose

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

Earthquake insurance for a Montrose 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 Montrose address.

More on how this number was built

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