Does Greenwood, SC need an earthquake retrofit?

Greenwood 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. Rank it against the rest of the country and Greenwood sits at the 76th percentile for seismic hazard among 4,875 US cities.

How Greenwood compares

USGS's underlying values for Greenwood: 0.171g peak ground acceleration, 0.3g at short period, 0.097g at 1 second. Within South Carolina alone, Greenwood ranks 39 of 66 cities by seismic hazard - the 42th percentile in-state. Greenwood has a population of about 22,667.

What a retrofit costs in Greenwood

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.

Earthquake insurance for a Greenwood home

A Greenwood 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 Greenwood's figures come from

Greenwood'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 Greenwood.