Arab's Seismic Design Category, explained

Under the seismic model IBC and ASCE 7 use for new construction, Arab is Category C. Moderate seismic hazard. Code adds irregular-building restrictions and requires bracing of some nonstructural components (e.g. tall shelving, water heaters) in addition to structural detailing. Nationally, Arab ranks above 73% of the 4,875 cities in this dataset for seismic hazard - the 73th percentile.

How Arab compares

The raw figures: peak ground acceleration 0.136g, short-period spectral response 0.257g, 1-second spectral response 0.108g. Among 107 Alabama cities in this dataset, Arab ranks 54 for seismic hazard, the 50th percentile within the state. About 8,918 people live in Arab, Alabama.

Bracing and bolting: the actual cost

Outside California, no state-level retrofit grant equivalent to Brace + Bolt could be found for Alabama. A typical retrofit still runs $5,000-$10,000 nationally, about $7,000 for a common single-family job.

What this means for insurance

Outside California, earthquake coverage is typically sold as an endorsement added to a standard homeowners policy, not a separate product - worth asking about directly when getting a home-insurance quote for a Arab address.

More on how this number was built

The methodology guide covers exactly how USGS's public design-maps API produced Arab's numbers. The guide to what a Seismic Design Category actually means covers why a category is never a substitute for an engineer's assessment of one specific house.