Paducah's Seismic Design Category, explained

Paducah carries Seismic Design Category D under USGS's ASCE 7-16 model. High seismic hazard - this is the category most of coastal California, the Pacific Northwest, and other active fault regions fall into. Code mandates significant seismic detailing and restricts irregular structural configurations. This is the category the Brace + Bolt scope (cripple-wall bracing, foundation bolting) is built for. That puts Paducah in the 94th percentile nationally for seismic hazard - higher than 94% of the 4,875 US cities USGS was checked against here.

Paducah by the numbers

USGS's underlying values for Paducah: 0.654g peak ground acceleration, 1.071g at short period, 0.354g at 1 second. Within Kentucky alone, Paducah ranks 1 of 79 cities by seismic hazard - the 100th percentile in-state. Paducah has a population of about 26,712.

Retrofit economics for Paducah

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 Kentucky 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 Kentucky.

What this means for insurance

A Paducah 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 Paducah's figures come from

Paducah's Category D 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 D does and doesn't tell you about Paducah.