Clinton, SC: what USGS's seismic model says

Under the seismic model IBC and ASCE 7 use for new construction, Clinton 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. That puts Clinton in the 76th percentile nationally for seismic hazard - higher than 76% of the 4,875 US cities USGS was checked against here.

How Clinton compares

The raw figures: peak ground acceleration 0.169g, short-period spectral response 0.297g, 1-second spectral response 0.097g. Among 66 South Carolina cities in this dataset, Clinton ranks 40 for seismic hazard, the 40th percentile within the state. About 7,852 people live in Clinton, South Carolina.

Bracing and bolting: the actual cost

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 Clinton address.

More on how this number was built

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