Central, SC: what USGS's seismic model says

Central 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. Nationally, Central ranks above 79% of the 4,875 cities in this dataset for seismic hazard - the 79th percentile.

How Central compares

The raw figures: peak ground acceleration 0.247g, short-period spectral response 0.39g, 1-second spectral response 0.103g. Among 66 South Carolina cities in this dataset, Central ranks 19 for seismic hazard, the 72th percentile within the state. About 5,339 people live in Central, South Carolina.

Retrofit economics for Central

Outside California, no state-level retrofit grant equivalent to Brace + Bolt could be found for South Carolina. 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 Central address.

More on how this number was built

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