By Robert Stephens

January, 2026

My smart watch alerted me about two seconds before I felt the ground move and my barn shake. The alert came from the MyShake app, and the earthquake turned out to be a 4.0, centered just over a mile from our home in Bennett Valley. It was a sharp reminder of where we live: near the Rogers Creek Fault, one of the most overdue faults in California, part of the Hayward–Rodgers Creek fault system—which the USGS estimates has about a 33% chance of producing a magnitude 6.7 or greater earthquake in the 30-year period from 2014 to 2043.

Living in a rural area, we’ve learned—especially during wildfire seasons—that there can be a period when you’re largely on your own, but also that there’s a lot we can do ahead of time. Cal Fire’s advice has always stuck with me: every Red Flag Warning is a good moment to move your go-bag near the door, turn your car around, and mentally rehearse what you’d do if you needed to leave quickly. 

Going forward, BVCA will use both Red Flag Warnings and nearby earthquakes above 3.0 as simple triggers to send a reminder email pointing to bennettvalley.org/prep, where we’ve compiled a comprehensive preparedness guide drawing from the Red Cross, Ready.gov, California OES, Cal Fire, and Sonoma County. We plan to keep the information and links on this page updated. You can help - click the link, and reply to this email with any suggestions or tips.