Does Marble Falls, TX need an earthquake retrofit?

Marble Falls carries Seismic Design Category A under USGS's ASCE 7-16 model. Lowest seismic design category. Building code requires no seismic-specific detailing here beyond ordinary construction practice. Nationally, Marble Falls ranks above 5% of the 4,875 cities in this dataset for seismic hazard - the 5th percentile.

How Marble Falls compares

USGS's underlying values for Marble Falls: 0.023g peak ground acceleration, 0.051g at short period, 0.03g at 1 second. Within Texas alone, Marble Falls ranks 349 of 384 cities by seismic hazard - the 9th percentile in-state. Marble Falls has a population of about 9,413.

What a retrofit costs in Marble Falls

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.

What this means for insurance

A Marble Falls 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 Marble Falls's figures come from

Marble Falls'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 Marble Falls.