Malverne's Seismic Design Category, explained

Under the seismic model IBC and ASCE 7 use for new construction, Malverne is Category B. Low seismic hazard. Code requires basic seismic detailing (bracing, connections) but no special structural system restrictions. Nationally, Malverne ranks above 62% of the 4,875 cities in this dataset for seismic hazard - the 62th percentile.

Malverne by the numbers

The raw figures: peak ground acceleration 0.158g, short-period spectral response 0.262g, 1-second spectral response 0.057g. Among 170 New York cities in this dataset, Malverne ranks 62 for seismic hazard, the 64th percentile within the state. About 8,464 people live in Malverne, New York.

Retrofit economics for Malverne

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

Insuring against this, not just retrofitting

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 Malverne address.

More on how this number was built

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