Does Crossville, TN need an earthquake retrofit?

Crossville 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. That puts Crossville in the 76th percentile nationally for seismic hazard - higher than 76% of the 4,875 US cities USGS was checked against here.

How Crossville compares

USGS's underlying values for Crossville: 0.182g peak ground acceleration, 0.317g at short period, 0.109g at 1 second. Within Tennessee alone, Crossville ranks 85 of 104 cities by seismic hazard - the 18th percentile in-state. Crossville has a population of about 12,785.

Retrofit economics for Crossville

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 Crossville 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 Crossville's figures come from

Crossville's Category C 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 C does and doesn't tell you about Crossville.