Sterling's Seismic Design Category, explained

USGS's ASCE 7-16 seismic design model - the same standard building codes use - places Sterling 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 Sterling sits at the 14th percentile for seismic hazard among 4,875 US cities.

Where Sterling sits in Colorado

USGS's underlying values for Sterling: 0.041g peak ground acceleration, 0.089g at short period, 0.038g at 1 second. Within Colorado alone, Sterling ranks 79 of 79 cities by seismic hazard - the 0th percentile in-state. Sterling has a population of about 13,114.

What a retrofit costs in Sterling

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 Colorado 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 Colorado.

Insuring against this, not just retrofitting

A Sterling 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 Sterling's figures come from

Sterling'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 Sterling.