Atlanta's Seismic Design Category, explained

Under the seismic model IBC and ASCE 7 use for new construction, Atlanta is Category B. Low seismic hazard. Code requires basic seismic detailing (bracing, connections) but no special structural system restrictions. Nationally, Atlanta ranks above 33% of the 4,875 cities in this dataset for seismic hazard - the 33th percentile.

Atlanta by the numbers

The raw figures: peak ground acceleration 0.055g, short-period spectral response 0.115g, 1-second spectral response 0.071g. Among 384 Texas cities in this dataset, Atlanta ranks 61 for seismic hazard, the 84th percentile within the state. About 5,448 people live in Atlanta, Texas.

Retrofit economics for Atlanta

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

Earthquake insurance for a Atlanta home

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 Atlanta address.

More on how this number was built

The methodology guide covers exactly how USGS's public design-maps API produced Atlanta'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.