Does Beardstown, IL need an earthquake retrofit?

Beardstown 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. That puts Beardstown in the 67th percentile nationally for seismic hazard - higher than 67% of the 4,875 US cities USGS was checked against here.

How Beardstown compares

USGS's underlying values for Beardstown: 0.074g peak ground acceleration, 0.155g at short period, 0.089g at 1 second. Within Illinois alone, Beardstown ranks 67 of 330 cities by seismic hazard - the 80th percentile in-state. Beardstown has a population of about 5,803.

Bracing and bolting: the actual cost

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 Illinois 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 Illinois.

Insuring against this, not just retrofitting

A Beardstown 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 Beardstown's figures come from

Beardstown'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 Beardstown.