The magnitude 5.6 earthquake that struck the Calaveras fault near Alum Rock Tuesday night at 8:04 p.m. opened talk about "the next big one." Tuesday's quake was the Bay Area's largest since the magnitude 6.9 Loma Prieta quake in 1989. However, things could have been much worse, as the quake directed its energy to the south, away from the Bay Area's most heavily populated urban centers and the dangerous Hayward Fault.

"This was in a way a special earthquake because it did happen very close to the intersection of the Hayward and the Calaveras faults," said Tom Brocher, a seismologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park, per SiliconValley.com.

Even if the "next big one" could be just around the corner, only 12 percent of homeowners in the Bay Area have Earthquake insurance, evidenced as roughly 500,000 policies. Each policy costs 2-3 thousand a year on average, with the deductible averaging $50,000.00, according to Randy Sargenti, Vice President of No. Cal. Operations at Saunder Seismic.

Sargenti also pointed out that people should really think about investing in seismic retrofitting, usually done on concrete tilt-up buildings. The retrofit basically reinforces the building's structure so it can withstand greater forces. He says buildings built prior to 1985 need to be assessed for possible structural deficiencies, while buildings prior to 1975 will most likely need a retrofit.

Meanwhile, all eyes are currently focused on the Hayward fault, which is due for a 6.5 to 7 magnitude earthquake.  Just next year marks the 140-year anniversary of the last "Big One" on the Hayward fault, which occurred Oct. 21, 1868. That quake is estimated by the U.S. Geological Survey at a magnitude 6.8 to 7 and it killed around 30 people across the Bay Area and caused $350,000 in property damage. However, the entire Bay Area had a total population of only 260,000 at the time and Hayward had a population of only 500.

However, people are still building homes on the three major California faults. "As a rule of thumb, if you're within five miles, you are going to be strongly shaken," USGS seismologist Tom Brocher told San Jose Mercury News.  "If I told you to live in San Ramon, you're living on the Calaveras Fault, or close to it. In Pacifica, you're on the San Andreas Fault. Almost all of us live within five miles or so of one of the major faults."

Most homeowners have pointed out that the weather and view is more important to them than the imminent danger of an earthquake. Also, most have said they prefer the potential threat of a major quake, which happens relatively rarely, than other natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornadoes and floods.