Bee Cave's Seismic Design Category, explained

Under the seismic model IBC and ASCE 7 use for new construction, Bee Cave is 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 Bee Cave sits at the 6th percentile for seismic hazard among 4,875 US cities.

How Bee Cave compares

USGS's underlying values for Bee Cave: 0.024g peak ground acceleration, 0.051g at short period, 0.029g at 1 second. Within Texas alone, Bee Cave ranks 339 of 384 cities by seismic hazard - the 12th percentile in-state. Bee Cave has a population of about 8,510.

Retrofit economics for Bee Cave

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 Texas 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 Texas.

Insuring against this, not just retrofitting

A Bee Cave 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 Bee Cave's figures come from

Bee Cave'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 Bee Cave.