Does Rexburg, ID need an earthquake retrofit?

Rexburg carries Seismic Design Category D under USGS's ASCE 7-16 model. High seismic hazard - this is the category most of coastal California, the Pacific Northwest, and other active fault regions fall into. Code mandates significant seismic detailing and restricts irregular structural configurations. This is the category the Brace + Bolt scope (cripple-wall bracing, foundation bolting) is built for. That puts Rexburg in the 80th percentile nationally for seismic hazard - higher than 80% of the 4,875 US cities USGS was checked against here.

How Rexburg compares

USGS's underlying values for Rexburg: 0.156g peak ground acceleration, 0.367g at short period, 0.143g at 1 second. Within Idaho alone, Rexburg ranks 10 of 36 cities by seismic hazard - the 74th percentile in-state. Rexburg has a population of about 40,695.

Retrofit economics for Rexburg

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 Idaho 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 Idaho.

Insuring against this, not just retrofitting

A Rexburg 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 Rexburg's figures come from

Rexburg's Category D 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 D does and doesn't tell you about Rexburg.