Morehead's Seismic Design Category, explained

Under the seismic model IBC and ASCE 7 use for new construction, Morehead is Category B. Low seismic hazard. Code requires basic seismic detailing (bracing, connections) but no special structural system restrictions. That puts Morehead in the 55th percentile nationally for seismic hazard - higher than 55% of the 4,875 US cities USGS was checked against here.

Where Morehead sits in Kentucky

The raw figures: peak ground acceleration 0.098g, short-period spectral response 0.184g, 1-second spectral response 0.079g. Among 79 Kentucky cities in this dataset, Morehead ranks 52 for seismic hazard, the 35th percentile within the state. About 6,789 people live in Morehead, Kentucky.

Bracing and bolting: the actual cost

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

Earthquake insurance for a Morehead home

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 Morehead address.

More on how this number was built

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