Suwanee's Seismic Design Category, explained

Suwanee carries Seismic Design Category C under USGS's ASCE 7-16 model. 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. That puts Suwanee in the 70th percentile nationally for seismic hazard - higher than 70% of the 4,875 US cities USGS was checked against here.

How Suwanee compares

USGS's underlying values for Suwanee: 0.101g peak ground acceleration, 0.2g at short period, 0.088g at 1 second. Within Georgia alone, Suwanee ranks 63 of 148 cities by seismic hazard - the 58th percentile in-state. Suwanee has a population of about 23,062.

What a retrofit costs in Suwanee

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 Georgia 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 Georgia.

What this means for insurance

A Suwanee 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 Suwanee's figures come from

Suwanee's Category C 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 C does and doesn't tell you about Suwanee.