Merriam, KS: what USGS's seismic model says

Under the seismic model IBC and ASCE 7 use for new construction, Merriam 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 Merriam sits at the 26th percentile for seismic hazard among 4,875 US cities.

Merriam by the numbers

The raw figures: peak ground acceleration 0.045g, short-period spectral response 0.095g, 1-second spectral response 0.069g. Among 63 Kansas cities in this dataset, Merriam ranks 23 for seismic hazard, the 65th percentile within the state. About 11,560 people live in Merriam, Kansas.

Retrofit economics for Merriam

Outside California, no state-level retrofit grant equivalent to Brace + Bolt could be found for Kansas. 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 Merriam address.

More on how this number was built

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