Does Plover, WI need an earthquake retrofit?

USGS's ASCE 7-16 seismic design model - the same standard building codes use - places Plover in Seismic Design Category A: Lowest seismic design category. Building code requires no seismic-specific detailing here beyond ordinary construction practice. That puts Plover in the 7th percentile nationally for seismic hazard - higher than 7% of the 4,875 US cities USGS was checked against here.

Plover by the numbers

USGS's underlying values for Plover: 0.024g peak ground acceleration, 0.05g at short period, 0.036g at 1 second. Within Wisconsin alone, Plover ranks 130 of 157 cities by seismic hazard - the 17th percentile in-state. Plover has a population of about 14,208.

Bracing and bolting: the actual cost

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 Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin.

Earthquake insurance for a Plover home

A Plover 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 Plover's figures come from

Plover'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 Plover.