Weirton's Seismic Design Category, explained

Under the seismic model IBC and ASCE 7 use for new construction, Weirton is Category B. Low seismic hazard. Code requires basic seismic detailing (bracing, connections) but no special structural system restrictions. Nationally, Weirton ranks above 25% of the 4,875 cities in this dataset for seismic hazard - the 25th percentile.

Weirton by the numbers

The raw figures: peak ground acceleration 0.044g, short-period spectral response 0.092g, 1-second spectral response 0.046g. Among 26 West Virginia cities in this dataset, Weirton ranks 26 for seismic hazard, the 0th percentile within the state. About 18,317 people live in Weirton, West Virginia.

What a retrofit costs in Weirton

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

More on how this number was built

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