Forest City's Seismic Design Category, explained

USGS's ASCE 7-16 seismic design model - the same standard building codes use - places Forest City 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. Rank it against the rest of the country and Forest City sits at the 73th percentile for seismic hazard among 4,875 US cities.

How Forest City compares

USGS's underlying values for Forest City: 0.133g peak ground acceleration, 0.245g at short period, 0.087g at 1 second. Within North Carolina alone, Forest City ranks 10 of 147 cities by seismic hazard - the 94th percentile in-state. Forest City has a population of about 7,397.

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 North Carolina 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 North Carolina.

Earthquake insurance for a Forest City home

A Forest City 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 Forest City's figures come from

Forest City'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 Forest City.