Emmett's Seismic Design Category, explained

USGS's ASCE 7-16 seismic design model - the same standard building codes use - places Emmett in Seismic Design 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. Nationally, Emmett ranks above 74% of the 4,875 cities in this dataset for seismic hazard - the 74th percentile.

How Emmett compares

The raw figures: peak ground acceleration 0.149g, short-period spectral response 0.339g, 1-second spectral response 0.121g. Among 36 Idaho cities in this dataset, Emmett ranks 15 for seismic hazard, the 60th percentile within the state. About 8,803 people live in Emmett, Idaho.

What a retrofit costs in Emmett

Outside California, no state-level retrofit grant equivalent to Brace + Bolt could be found for Idaho. A typical retrofit still runs $5,000-$10,000 nationally, about $7,000 for a common single-family job.

Earthquake insurance for a Emmett home

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 Emmett address.

More on how this number was built

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