Barling's Seismic Design Category, explained

Barling carries Seismic Design Category C under USGS's ASCE 7-16 model. 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. Rank it against the rest of the country and Barling sits at the 67th percentile for seismic hazard among 4,875 US cities.

How Barling compares

USGS's underlying values for Barling: 0.078g peak ground acceleration, 0.162g at short period, 0.088g at 1 second. Within Arkansas alone, Barling ranks 48 of 68 cities by seismic hazard - the 30th percentile in-state. Barling has a population of about 5,284.

What a retrofit costs in Barling

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 Arkansas 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 Arkansas.

What this means for insurance

A Barling 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 Barling's figures come from

Barling's Category C 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 C does and doesn't tell you about Barling.