Does Tuscaloosa, AL need an earthquake retrofit?

Under the seismic model IBC and ASCE 7 use for new construction, Tuscaloosa 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, Tuscaloosa ranks above 76% of the 4,875 cities in this dataset for seismic hazard - the 76th percentile.

How Tuscaloosa compares

The raw figures: peak ground acceleration 0.176g, short-period spectral response 0.299g, 1-second spectral response 0.103g. Among 107 Alabama cities in this dataset, Tuscaloosa ranks 16 for seismic hazard, the 86th percentile within the state. About 114,288 people live in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

What a retrofit costs in Tuscaloosa

Outside California, no state-level retrofit grant equivalent to Brace + Bolt could be found for Alabama. 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 Tuscaloosa address.

More on how this number was built

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