Bellevue's Seismic Design Category, explained

Under the seismic model IBC and ASCE 7 use for new construction, Bellevue is Category B. Low seismic hazard. Code requires basic seismic detailing (bracing, connections) but no special structural system restrictions. Rank it against the rest of the country and Bellevue sits at the 18th percentile for seismic hazard among 4,875 US cities.

Where Bellevue sits in Nebraska

The raw figures: peak ground acceleration 0.035g, short-period spectral response 0.072g, 1-second spectral response 0.046g. Among 32 Nebraska cities in this dataset, Bellevue ranks 18 for seismic hazard, the 45th percentile within the state. About 64,777 people live in Bellevue, Nebraska.

Retrofit economics for Bellevue

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

Earthquake insurance for a Bellevue 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 Bellevue address.

More on how this number was built

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