Does Moscow, ID need an earthquake retrofit?

USGS's ASCE 7-16 seismic design model - the same standard building codes use - places Moscow 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 Moscow in the 73th percentile nationally for seismic hazard - higher than 73% of the 4,875 US cities USGS was checked against here.

Where Moscow sits in Idaho

The raw figures: peak ground acceleration 0.131g, short-period spectral response 0.294g, 1-second spectral response 0.106g. Among 36 Idaho cities in this dataset, Moscow ranks 24 for seismic hazard, the 34th percentile within the state. About 26,894 people live in Moscow, Idaho.

Retrofit economics for Moscow

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 Moscow 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 Moscow address.

More on how this number was built

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