Paola, KS: what USGS's seismic model says

Paola carries Seismic Design Category B under USGS's ASCE 7-16 model. Low seismic hazard. Code requires basic seismic detailing (bracing, connections) but no special structural system restrictions. Nationally, Paola ranks above 25% of the 4,875 cities in this dataset for seismic hazard - the 25th percentile.

How Paola compares

The raw figures: peak ground acceleration 0.045g, short-period spectral response 0.096g, 1-second spectral response 0.07g. Among 63 Kansas cities in this dataset, Paola ranks 34 for seismic hazard, the 47th percentile within the state. About 5,835 people live in Paola, Kansas.

Retrofit economics for Paola

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

More on how this number was built

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