Does Murfreesboro, TN need an earthquake retrofit?

Under the seismic model IBC and ASCE 7 use for new construction, Murfreesboro is Category C. 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. Nationally, Murfreesboro ranks above 72% of the 4,875 cities in this dataset for seismic hazard - the 72th percentile.

Murfreesboro by the numbers

The raw figures: peak ground acceleration 0.122g, short-period spectral response 0.249g, 1-second spectral response 0.125g. Among 104 Tennessee cities in this dataset, Murfreesboro ranks 99 for seismic hazard, the 5th percentile within the state. About 168,387 people live in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Retrofit economics for Murfreesboro

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

More on how this number was built

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