Sedalia's Seismic Design Category, explained

Under the seismic model IBC and ASCE 7 use for new construction, Sedalia 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, Sedalia ranks above 67% of the 4,875 cities in this dataset for seismic hazard - the 67th percentile.

Where Sedalia sits in Missouri

The raw figures: peak ground acceleration 0.065g, short-period spectral response 0.137g, 1-second spectral response 0.084g. Among 135 Missouri cities in this dataset, Sedalia ranks 94 for seismic hazard, the 31th percentile within the state. About 22,310 people live in Sedalia, Missouri.

Retrofit economics for Sedalia

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

Insuring against this, not just retrofitting

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 Sedalia address.

More on how this number was built

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