Does Tyrone, PA need an earthquake retrofit?

Tyrone carries Seismic Design Category A under USGS's ASCE 7-16 model. Lowest seismic design category. Building code requires no seismic-specific detailing here beyond ordinary construction practice. Rank it against the rest of the country and Tyrone sits at the 14th percentile for seismic hazard among 4,875 US cities.

Tyrone by the numbers

USGS's underlying values for Tyrone: 0.044g peak ground acceleration, 0.092g at short period, 0.038g at 1 second. Within Pennsylvania alone, Tyrone ranks 188 of 193 cities by seismic hazard - the 3th percentile in-state. Tyrone has a population of about 5,312.

Retrofit economics for Tyrone

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 Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania.

Earthquake insurance for a Tyrone home

A Tyrone 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 Tyrone's figures come from

Tyrone's Category A 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 A does and doesn't tell you about Tyrone.