Orono's Seismic Design Category, explained

USGS's ASCE 7-16 seismic design model - the same standard building codes use - places Orono in Seismic Design Category A: Lowest seismic design category. Building code requires no seismic-specific detailing here beyond ordinary construction practice. Rank it against the rest of the country and Orono sits at the 5th percentile for seismic hazard among 4,875 US cities.

How Orono compares

USGS's underlying values for Orono: 0.023g peak ground acceleration, 0.049g at short period, 0.029g at 1 second. Within Minnesota alone, Orono ranks 83 of 155 cities by seismic hazard - the 47th percentile in-state. Orono has a population of about 8,228.

Retrofit economics for Orono

A full earthquake retrofit typically runs $5,000-$10,000 nationally (around $7,000 typical), driven mainly by house size and foundation type, not by Minnesota specifically. California's Earthquake Brace + Bolt grant, which covers a large share of this cost, is a California-only program and does not apply in Minnesota.

Insuring against this, not just retrofitting

A Orono homeowner cannot buy a standalone earthquake policy in most cases - it is added to an existing homeowners policy as an endorsement, so the place to start is a regular home-insurance quote.

Where Orono's figures come from

Orono's Category A and every number above trace to USGS's own ASCE 7-16 Design Maps service - see the methodology guide. See the category explainer for what Category A does and doesn't tell you about Orono.