First of all, thank you everyone for your input to my questions. It was very helpful.

Second, it is very apparent to me that a major earthquake is a very frightening prospect and I am convinced that many people are just not prepared. Over a family dinner a few weeks ago, the topic of earthquake insurance came up. My cousin who is a doctor in Palm Springs and his wife, a nurse,(both educated and should know better) said they thought earthquake insurance was a waste of money. His wife very calmly explained to my husband and I (both of us are architects), that the desert is so much safer because of the sandy soils. According to my cousin's wife, soft sandy soil acts like a shock absorber and cushions the buildings so they don't shake as much.

My parents on the other hand who were also at the dinner, explained that they don't have earthquake insurance because they are on bedrock and they had no damage during the Sylmar and Northridge quakes (again, they should know better, an apartment building they owned jumped off of its foundations during the Northridge quake). That apartment has insurance, their house doesn't. Both my parents and my cousin and his wife (all them otherwise smart and educated people)thought my husand and I were foolish for having earthquake insurance and paranoid for worrying about earthquakes. If they are typical, there is alot of education that the public needs to have.

BTW I few other items that we have in case of a disaster that I'm not sure were mentioned earlier:

Police scanner (we used it during the fires)
Extra cash (Important because ATM machines will be down)
A non-electricity dependent phone (electricity may be out but phone lines may be OK)
An emergency kit outside of the house (incase you can't get into the house for some reason)
Never have less than 1/2 a tank of gas in your car (gas stations will be closed and you can go anywhere without gas)