Selma, NC: what USGS's seismic model says

USGS's ASCE 7-16 seismic design model - the same standard building codes use - places Selma in Seismic Design 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 Selma sits at the 33th percentile for seismic hazard among 4,875 US cities.

Where Selma sits in North Carolina

The raw figures: peak ground acceleration 0.055g, short-period spectral response 0.116g, 1-second spectral response 0.058g. Among 147 North Carolina cities in this dataset, Selma ranks 123 for seismic hazard, the 16th percentile within the state. About 7,228 people live in Selma, North Carolina.

Retrofit economics for Selma

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

Earthquake insurance for a Selma 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 Selma address.

More on how this number was built

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