Where in northern California? If you're not near the coast, you probably will never experience an earthquake. As the recent quake in Massachusetts shows, however, earthquakes can happen almost anywhere.

Also, fun fact, the chances of a 'Cascadia megaquake', or a full rip of the Cascadia subduction zone, is about 1 in 6 over the next 50 years. That will produce a 9.0 extending from the Mendocino triple junction off the coast of Cape Mendocino, CA to Canada. It's the same type of earthquake that destroyed Fukushima. You'll have to be pretty far inland to avoid the shaking from that.