Raritan, NJ: what USGS's seismic model says

USGS's ASCE 7-16 seismic design model - the same standard building codes use - places Raritan in Seismic Design Category B: Low seismic hazard. Code requires basic seismic detailing (bracing, connections) but no special structural system restrictions. That puts Raritan in the 61th percentile nationally for seismic hazard - higher than 61% of the 4,875 US cities USGS was checked against here.

Where Raritan sits in New Jersey

The raw figures: peak ground acceleration 0.146g, short-period spectral response 0.245g, 1-second spectral response 0.055g. Among 194 New Jersey cities in this dataset, Raritan ranks 134 for seismic hazard, the 31th percentile within the state. About 8,584 people live in Raritan, New Jersey.

Retrofit economics for Raritan

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

Earthquake insurance for a Raritan 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 Raritan address.

More on how this number was built

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