Raton, NM: what USGS's seismic model says

USGS's ASCE 7-16 seismic design model - the same standard building codes use - places Raton in Seismic Design Category B: Low seismic hazard. Code requires basic seismic detailing (bracing, connections) but no special structural system restrictions. That puts Raton in the 56th percentile nationally for seismic hazard - higher than 56% of the 4,875 US cities USGS was checked against here.

Raton by the numbers

The raw figures: peak ground acceleration 0.101g, short-period spectral response 0.199g, 1-second spectral response 0.063g. Among 35 New Mexico cities in this dataset, Raton ranks 23 for seismic hazard, the 35th percentile within the state. About 6,005 people live in Raton, New Mexico.

Retrofit economics for Raton

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

What this means for insurance

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 Raton address.

More on how this number was built

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