Whole Lot of Shakin'

When I moved to Arkansas I quickly discovered that we live on a huge fault line like that of San Andreas out in California. It is called the New Madrid fault line. I know in my mind that we have little earthquakes all of the time and that these are necessary during the continental shifting. However, it's always in the back of my mind that the big one could hit...again.
The damage area for the 16 December 1811 New Madrid earthquake was 15 times as large as the area of similar damage for the magnitude 8.3 San Francisco earthquake of 1906. And the third of these great earthquakes, in February of 1812, is the largest known earthquake in the continental U.S. Only Alaska has had a larger one, the Great Alaska earthquake of 1964.
I'm a little nervous to read the reports. I figure that it is better to just not know when it is going to hit, and be prepared. Of course, if there are any kind of warning signs, then please, send them my way.