Cleveland, TN: what USGS's seismic model says

Under the seismic model IBC and ASCE 7 use for new construction, Cleveland is Category D. High seismic hazard - this is the category most of coastal California, the Pacific Northwest, and other active fault regions fall into. Code mandates significant seismic detailing and restricts irregular structural configurations. This is the category the Brace + Bolt scope (cripple-wall bracing, foundation bolting) is built for. Rank it against the rest of the country and Cleveland sits at the 87th percentile for seismic hazard among 4,875 US cities.

How Cleveland compares

USGS's underlying values for Cleveland: 0.377g peak ground acceleration, 0.563g at short period, 0.13g at 1 second. Within Tennessee alone, Cleveland ranks 32 of 104 cities by seismic hazard - the 70th percentile in-state. Cleveland has a population of about 50,232.

What a retrofit costs in Cleveland

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 Tennessee 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 Tennessee.

Insuring against this, not just retrofitting

A Cleveland 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 Cleveland's figures come from

Cleveland's Category D 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 D does and doesn't tell you about Cleveland.