Killeen's Seismic Design Category, explained

USGS's ASCE 7-16 seismic design model - the same standard building codes use - places Killeen in Seismic Design Category A: Lowest seismic design category. Building code requires no seismic-specific detailing here beyond ordinary construction practice. Rank it against the rest of the country and Killeen sits at the 9th percentile for seismic hazard among 4,875 US cities.

Killeen by the numbers

USGS's underlying values for Killeen: 0.026g peak ground acceleration, 0.057g at short period, 0.038g at 1 second. Within Texas alone, Killeen ranks 303 of 384 cities by seismic hazard - the 21th percentile in-state. Killeen has a population of about 160,616.

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 Texas 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 Texas.

Earthquake insurance for a Killeen home

A Killeen 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 Killeen's figures come from

Killeen's Category A 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 A does and doesn't tell you about Killeen.