Having lived in California and experiencing just about every major earthquake we've had since the Sylmar Quake ( I had JUST moved back home a few months before then..) I can say there is realistically a possibility of this happening but a very small possibility. Yes, you are closer to the San Andreas fault line which historically has presented strong movement. Yes, apparently it IS overdue for some movement by the standards to which professionals have been able to ascertain. But to actually say " Hey, it's gonna shake and everything will fall down and go boom" just can't be pinpointed.
I'll admit a strong fascination with earthquakes from the very first one i enjoyed( Sylmar) to the one that scared me out of my mind ( Northridge, I lived right across the street from the Meadows which lost it's first floor and down the street was the Northridge Mall ) so much like I interpret from your question....I dove into finding out what i could. Sad sometimes I did not go into a field related to earthquakes or tectonics or geology or some such arena.
I can tell you this. You might begin by going to various sites such as http://earthquake.usgs.gov or http://neic.usgs.gov or http://quake.usgs.gov/ or just google earthquake and start reading and start bookmarking.
In a nutshell, yes, there is a chance you may suffer catastrophic damage, moderate damage, light damage.... it's a reality living here in California. It can also happen in almost any other part of the country or the world, but due to our proximity..... our distance.. or closeness actually to the Great San Andreas and its' distant cousins and the Pacific Plate, we feel them and live with more than many.
But the best advice I can give is, don't panic, don't worry, read, learn and prepare.