I live in California, so I think I can give an insider's perspective on this.
We Californians have lived with the prospect of the "Big One" hanging over our heads for a very long time. It's been said that the Big One will come any day now for as long as I've been around (Almost 19 years), and for as long as my parents and my grandparents have lived here. There's absolutely no doubt that there will be a large earthquake in the future, and it will cause a lot of damage. The kicker is, of course, that we don't know when it'll be. Because of that, California is preparing itself the best it can. From what I understand, a good chunk of - if not all - buildings in this state are built to resist quakes. Everyone who's grown up in California has had at least some form of education about what to do in the case of an earthquake as well (Although I would imagine that disaster drills are commonplace in schools throughout the United States).
And on the subject of the San Andreas Fault, I live approximately 10-15 miles from it, where it runs alongside a freeway. Although it's that close, I'm not necessarily afraid of the "Big One". It's something that we've known about for years, and its inevitability is accepted rather than feared, at least in my experience. When you live in a state where earthquakes are a (relatively) commonplace occurrence, you just learn to accept it as the way nature works. No matter where you live on this Earth, you're never 100% safe from Mother Nature. The only thing you can do about earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, blizzards, what-have-you is to prepare appropriately. As long as you have a clear head and proper preparation, you'll be fine.
At least, that's how I see it.
