Palestine, TX: what USGS's seismic model says

Under the seismic model IBC and ASCE 7 use for new construction, Palestine is Category B. Low seismic hazard. Code requires basic seismic detailing (bracing, connections) but no special structural system restrictions. Rank it against the rest of the country and Palestine sits at the 21th percentile for seismic hazard among 4,875 US cities.

Where Palestine sits in Texas

The raw figures: peak ground acceleration 0.04g, short-period spectral response 0.083g, 1-second spectral response 0.051g. Among 384 Texas cities in this dataset, Palestine ranks 163 for seismic hazard, the 58th percentile within the state. About 19,583 people live in Palestine, Texas.

Retrofit economics for Palestine

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

Earthquake insurance for a Palestine 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 Palestine address.

More on how this number was built

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