West Palm Beach, FL: what USGS's seismic model says

Under the seismic model IBC and ASCE 7 use for new construction, West Palm Beach is Category A. 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 West Palm Beach sits at the 3th percentile for seismic hazard among 4,875 US cities.

How West Palm Beach compares

USGS's underlying values for West Palm Beach: 0.021g peak ground acceleration, 0.046g at short period, 0.024g at 1 second. Within Florida alone, West Palm Beach ranks 156 of 228 cities by seismic hazard - the 32th percentile in-state. West Palm Beach has a population of about 127,744.

Retrofit economics for West Palm Beach

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 Florida 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 Florida.

Insuring against this, not just retrofitting

A West Palm Beach 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 West Palm Beach's figures come from

West Palm Beach'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 West Palm Beach.