Does Raymondville, TX need an earthquake retrofit?

USGS's ASCE 7-16 seismic design model - the same standard building codes use - places Raymondville 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 Raymondville sits at the 3th percentile for seismic hazard among 4,875 US cities.

Raymondville by the numbers

USGS's underlying values for Raymondville: 0.022g peak ground acceleration, 0.046g at short period, 0.014g at 1 second. Within Texas alone, Raymondville ranks 359 of 384 cities by seismic hazard - the 7th percentile in-state. Raymondville has a population of about 10,107.

Retrofit economics for Raymondville

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 Texas 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 Texas.

Insuring against this, not just retrofitting

A Raymondville 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 Raymondville's figures come from

Raymondville'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 Raymondville.