Something seems to be on the increase, especially with the pacific plate. It's pretty well outlined now with daily and weekly occurrences. You didn't see the outline very well in the past. The only area that hasn't had an increase in large quakes (though smaller ones have seemingly increased) is the West Coast of the United States. If I lived on the West Coast, I'd certainly have a few essentials put away just in case there is a BIG one!
You are wise to take precautions. The Clearlake area of Northern CA has fascinated me with the usually low magnitude earthquakes on a daily + occurrence. Isn’t there some geothermal work there?