What's to prepare within the area? The best preparation is to warehouse supplies outside of the great plains and midwest. If the New Madrid fault goes, pretty much every building in that part of the country is going to fall. You just hope that you are outside, and that you are far enough uphill that the Mississippi doesn't come over you.
Over time, one way to prepare would be to replace or reinforce all those brick buildings, before a quake steps in and does that for us.