Riverton's Seismic Design Category, explained

Riverton 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 Riverton in the 91th percentile nationally for seismic hazard - higher than 91% of the 4,875 US cities USGS was checked against here.

Riverton by the numbers

USGS's underlying values for Riverton: 0.545g peak ground acceleration, 1.227g at short period, 0.44g at 1 second. Within Utah alone, Riverton ranks 53 of 95 cities by seismic hazard - the 45th percentile in-state. Riverton has a population of about 46,680.

Retrofit economics for Riverton

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 Utah 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 Utah.

Earthquake insurance for a Riverton home

A Riverton 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 Riverton's figures come from

Riverton'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 Riverton.