Morgan Hill's Seismic Design Category, explained

Morgan Hill carries Seismic Design Category D under USGS's ASCE 7-16 model. High seismic hazard - this is the category most of coastal California, the Pacific Northwest, and other active fault regions fall into. Code mandates significant seismic detailing and restricts irregular structural configurations. This is the category the Brace + Bolt scope (cripple-wall bracing, foundation bolting) is built for. Nationally, Morgan Hill ranks above 95% of the 4,875 cities in this dataset for seismic hazard - the 95th percentile.

Morgan Hill by the numbers

USGS's underlying values for Morgan Hill: 0.698g peak ground acceleration, 1.674g at short period, 0.612g at 1 second. Within California alone, Morgan Hill ranks 184 of 429 cities by seismic hazard - the 57th percentile in-state. Morgan Hill has a population of about 45,952.

Retrofit economics for Morgan Hill

Cripple-wall bracing and foundation bolting - the scope California's Earthquake Brace + Bolt (EBB) grant funds - typically runs $3,000-$7,000 nationally. Every qualifying household gets a $3,000 base grant, which brings that down to $0-$4,000 out of pocket; income-eligible households ($89,040/year or under) can get up to $10,000 total, covering the retrofit outright in most cases.

Insuring against this, not just retrofitting

Morgan Hill sits in CEA territory, but CEA earthquake coverage is agent-sold only, never direct - so the real first step for a homeowner here is a standard home-insurance quote, then asking that agent about CEA specifically.

Where Morgan Hill's figures come from

Morgan Hill's Category D and every number above trace to USGS's own ASCE 7-16 Design Maps service - see the methodology guide. Full Brace + Bolt eligibility rules - beyond what this page can check from a ZIP code alone - are in the retrofit cost and grant guide.