Concerning "The Big One", there is a big one coming. It is inevitable and it is borne out by the geological record. Like clockwork, certain areas experience high magnitude earthquakes. The grinding push of the various plates of Earth's crust cause a slow motion staccato of starts and stops in the movement along a fault line. We know the rate of slippage and the general frequency of earthquakes and the usual magnitude of these quakes, ALONG KNOWN FAULTS. The business going on north of Reno is anomalous. It is happening in one small area and there are no know fault lines to speak of. This area is to date, unpredictable. It could be a incipient volcano. It could just be what it appears, a swarm of earthquakes.

But along the known faults such as the San Andreas, the Garlock, the Big Pine, White Wolf etc. the Big Ones happen with great regularity and have for hundreds of thousands of years. Just because WE are here now does not mean that the process has stopped for our convenience. We tend to think in terms of a life time or two and get very comfortable thinking nothing has ever happened in my life time like a "Big One" so it isn't going to happen. That's wrong thinking and my advice is to prepare some plans (plural) for survival: escape routes, gas shutoff locations, circuit breaker and the like, stored water. flash lights, a tent? some kind of temporary shelter, extra clothing. rallying point, a strobe light, portable radio. This is just good common sense that could save your life or the life of a neighbor.

Let me normalize you to doing something may just save your nominal life.