Does Hudson, TX need an earthquake retrofit?

Under the seismic model IBC and ASCE 7 use for new construction, Hudson is Category B. Low seismic hazard. Code requires basic seismic detailing (bracing, connections) but no special structural system restrictions. Rank it against the rest of the country and Hudson sits at the 22th percentile for seismic hazard among 4,875 US cities.

Hudson by the numbers

The raw figures: peak ground acceleration 0.042g, short-period spectral response 0.086g, 1-second spectral response 0.052g. Among 384 Texas cities in this dataset, Hudson ranks 156 for seismic hazard, the 60th percentile within the state. About 5,288 people live in Hudson, Texas.

Bracing and bolting: the actual cost

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

What this means for insurance

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 Hudson address.

More on how this number was built

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