Hi Diane,

While no one can promise anything, I think I can safety say you won't be having an 8.0 earthquake. You could have a 5 or 6 and maybe at the off chance a 7.0, but almost everyone can survive a 7.0 as long as you're not inside of an unreinforced masonry building.

I wanted to briefly touch on the earthquake insurance issue. State Farm is a signatory to the California Earthquake Authority (CEA) and as such you will receive offers of coverage every other year and usually you can buy it mid-term as well as long as there is not a 5.0 or great quake within 100 miles of where you live in the past 30 days.

If you're not interested in that program others exist, like Geo Vera which sells a "pool of money" pot for earthquake damages or Arrowhead Insurance has offers well.

You just need to be informed about what is available. State Farm will only tell you about the CEA and the rest you'll need to ask an independant agent or broker about.

If you can afford it, I recommend you buy it. It provides peace of mind and hope that you will recover regardless of whatever else is going on. Remember too that for federal assistance your area must be declared a disaster area and with earthquake insurance it doesn't matter.

I'm sure you'll make good choices about where to go and what to do. I like the hallways in homes best and I never place pictures or mirrors there so I can have a safe place. Make an earthquake experience a game for your children. Talk to them ahead of time and tell them that if an earthquake comes you will have a contest and the one who can name the most things they've seen during the quake will get the bonus prize. Don't forget to buy those prizes and put them in your EQ kit along with crayons and paper so they can draw pictures that will tell Mom the most unusual things that happened. I did this and I can honestly say both of my grown children love earthquakes and tell me all about them.

Petra