Does St. Martinville, LA need an earthquake retrofit?

Under the seismic model IBC and ASCE 7 use for new construction, St. Martinville is Category B. Low seismic hazard. Code requires basic seismic detailing (bracing, connections) but no special structural system restrictions. That puts St. Martinville in the 21th percentile nationally for seismic hazard - higher than 21% of the 4,875 US cities USGS was checked against here.

St. Martinville by the numbers

USGS's underlying values for St. Martinville: 0.041g peak ground acceleration, 0.084g at short period, 0.052g at 1 second. Within Louisiana alone, St. Martinville ranks 53 of 59 cities by seismic hazard - the 10th percentile in-state. St. Martinville has a population of about 5,229.

What a retrofit costs in St. Martinville

A full earthquake retrofit typically runs $5,000-$10,000 nationally (around $7,000 typical), driven mainly by house size and foundation type, not by Louisiana specifically. California's Earthquake Brace + Bolt grant, which covers a large share of this cost, is a California-only program and does not apply in Louisiana.

Insuring against this, not just retrofitting

A St. Martinville homeowner cannot buy a standalone earthquake policy in most cases - it is added to an existing homeowners policy as an endorsement, so the place to start is a regular home-insurance quote.

Where St. Martinville's figures come from

St. Martinville's Category B and every number above trace to USGS's own ASCE 7-16 Design Maps service - see the methodology guide. See the category explainer for what Category B does and doesn't tell you about St. Martinville.