Does Morris, IL need an earthquake retrofit?

USGS's ASCE 7-16 seismic design model - the same standard building codes use - places Morris in Seismic Design Category B: Low seismic hazard. Code requires basic seismic detailing (bracing, connections) but no special structural system restrictions. Nationally, Morris ranks above 47% of the 4,875 cities in this dataset for seismic hazard - the 47th percentile.

Morris by the numbers

The raw figures: peak ground acceleration 0.073g, short-period spectral response 0.143g, 1-second spectral response 0.071g. Among 330 Illinois cities in this dataset, Morris ranks 76 for seismic hazard, the 77th percentile within the state. About 14,587 people live in Morris, Illinois.

Retrofit economics for Morris

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

Earthquake insurance for a Morris 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 Morris address.

More on how this number was built

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