Sandy's Seismic Design Category, explained

Sandy 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. Nationally, Sandy ranks above 85% of the 4,875 cities in this dataset for seismic hazard - the 85th percentile.

How Sandy compares

USGS's underlying values for Sandy: 0.32g peak ground acceleration, 0.714g at short period, 0.317g at 1 second. Within Oregon alone, Sandy ranks 57 of 80 cities by seismic hazard - the 29th percentile in-state. Sandy has a population of about 12,990.

Retrofit economics for Sandy

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 Oregon 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 Oregon.

Insuring against this, not just retrofitting

A Sandy 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 Sandy's figures come from

Sandy'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 Sandy.