Fountain Inn's Seismic Design Category, explained

Under the seismic model IBC and ASCE 7 use for new construction, Fountain Inn 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. Rank it against the rest of the country and Fountain Inn sits at the 75th percentile for seismic hazard among 4,875 US cities.

Fountain Inn by the numbers

USGS's underlying values for Fountain Inn: 0.163g peak ground acceleration, 0.287g at short period, 0.094g at 1 second. Within South Carolina alone, Fountain Inn ranks 44 of 66 cities by seismic hazard - the 34th percentile in-state. Fountain Inn has a population of about 13,786.

What a retrofit costs in Fountain Inn

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 South 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 South Carolina.

Insuring against this, not just retrofitting

A Fountain Inn 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 Fountain Inn's figures come from

Fountain Inn'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 Fountain Inn.