Bolivar's Seismic Design Category, explained

Under the seismic model IBC and ASCE 7 use for new construction, Bolivar is Category C. 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. Nationally, Bolivar ranks above 67% of the 4,875 cities in this dataset for seismic hazard - the 67th percentile.

Bolivar by the numbers

The raw figures: peak ground acceleration 0.078g, short-period spectral response 0.164g, 1-second spectral response 0.096g. Among 135 Missouri cities in this dataset, Bolivar ranks 89 for seismic hazard, the 34th percentile within the state. About 11,549 people live in Bolivar, Missouri.

What a retrofit costs in Bolivar

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

Insuring against this, not just retrofitting

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 Bolivar address.

More on how this number was built

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