Does Morristown, TN need an earthquake retrofit?

Morristown carries Seismic Design Category C under USGS's ASCE 7-16 model. Moderate seismic hazard. Code adds irregular-building restrictions and requires bracing of some nonstructural components (e.g. tall shelving, water heaters) in addition to structural detailing. Rank it against the rest of the country and Morristown sits at the 79th percentile for seismic hazard among 4,875 US cities.

How Morristown compares

USGS's underlying values for Morristown: 0.294g peak ground acceleration, 0.454g at short period, 0.112g at 1 second. Within Tennessee alone, Morristown ranks 74 of 104 cities by seismic hazard - the 29th percentile in-state. Morristown has a population of about 32,994.

What a retrofit costs in Morristown

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 Tennessee 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 Tennessee.

What this means for insurance

A Morristown 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 Morristown's figures come from

Morristown's Category C 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 C does and doesn't tell you about Morristown.