Ellettsville's Seismic Design Category, explained

Ellettsville 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 Ellettsville in the 72th percentile nationally for seismic hazard - higher than 72% of the 4,875 US cities USGS was checked against here.

Ellettsville by the numbers

USGS's underlying values for Ellettsville: 0.128g peak ground acceleration, 0.246g at short period, 0.105g at 1 second. Within Indiana alone, Ellettsville ranks 13 of 126 cities by seismic hazard - the 90th percentile in-state. Ellettsville has a population of about 6,829.

Bracing and bolting: the actual cost

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 Indiana 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 Indiana.

Earthquake insurance for a Ellettsville home

A Ellettsville 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 Ellettsville's figures come from

Ellettsville'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 Ellettsville.