I guess since we haven't had a major (7 or above) quake in 20 years a lot of people are kind of inexperienced with these type of situations. Transplants and people under 20. The Caltech lady said a major quake happens every 15 years or so and a great quake (8 or above) happens like every 70 years, IIRC.
It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog.