The United States is every bit as much at risk for a nuclear power plant accident as Japan. We too have nuclear facilities built in two of the most active seismic zones in America....along or near the San Andreas Fault in California and along the Madrid Fault in Arkansas. Another facility in New York is also built on an active seismic zone.

Even before the Japanese event, a group in California had been actively petitioning not to renew the license for one California facility:
None of these plants is built to withstand an earthquake of more than 7.5, not to mention an ensuing tsunami that could occur on the west coast. Officials seem confident that is "enough", since no earthquake greater than 7.5 has ever hit in these areas.
“Nuclear power plants should not be built in seismically active areas,” said Liz Apfelberg, a spokeswoman for Mothers for Peace. The San Luis Obispo, California-based group opposes extending PG&E’s license to run the nearby Diablo Canyon plant about 185 miles (298 kilometers) northwest of Los Angeles.
“No nuclear plant can be built robust enough in an earthquake zone,” Apfelberg said, citing the events in Japan. (Quoted in https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-15/quake-prone-pacific-rim-atomic-plants-may-hold-keys-to-u-s-nuclear-plans.html )

Her group is challenging PG&E’s application for a 20-year license extension, based on seismic issues. In 2008, U.S. scientists discovered a new fault line near the plant that raised additional safety concerns, she said.

Diablo Canyon has been built to withstand “all environmental hazards in the region,” including a tsunami and an earthquake with a magnitude of as much as 7.5 on the Richter scale, Kory Raftery, a PG&E spokesman, said by telephone.
All of the plant’s equipment and buildings have been reinforced and tested to ensure it can withstand “far above the largest credible earthquake that could happen in our area,” Raftery said. " U.S. scientists and regulators have determined that to be 6.0 to 6.5 in Richter magnitude," he added. (Raftery, bloomberg.com...)

“Regulators, politicians and activist groups are likely to view power plants of any design faced with similar risks to constitute a potential hazard,” Wynne said yesterday in a report. PG&E’s Diablo Canyon and the San Onofre plant operated by Southern California Edison, a unit of Rosemeade, California- based Edison International (EIX), are “particularly at risk” because of their seaside locations, Wynne said. (Wynne, Bloomberg.com)

The San Onofre plant is designed to withstand a 7.0 magnitude earthquake, greater than the maximum “credible threat” for the region as determined by federal regulators and scientists, said Gil Alexander, a spokesman for Southern California Edison. " The power station north of San Diego is protected by a seawall to deal with tsunamis as high as 30 feet, " he said. (Alexander, Bloomberg.com)

The California power station is one of a handful across the U.S. that may pose seismic safety risks. Plants in the Northeast and South are also within known fault zones.

In Arkansas, two pressurized-water reactors at the Russellville Nuclear One plant supply 30 percent of the state’s power, U.S. Energy Information Administration data show. The plant is about 180 miles from the New Madrid fault line, one of the most active and dangerous fault lines in the United States.

THE HIGHEST EARTHQUAKE RISK in the UNITED STATES outside the West Coast is along the New Madrid Fault. Damaging tremors are not as frequent as in California, but when they occur, the destruction covers over more than 20 times the area because of underlying geology.

A DAMAGING EARTHQUAKE in this AREA, 6.0 or greater, occur about every 80 years (the last one in 1895). The results would cause serious damage to schools and masonry buildings from Memphis to St Louis.

A MAJOR EARTHQUAKE in this AREA, 7.5 or greater, happens every 200- 300 years (the last one in 1812). There is a 25% chance by 2040. A New Madrid Fault rupture this size would be felt throughout half the United States and damage 20 states or more. Missouri alone could anticipate losses of at least $6 billion from such an event.

THE GREAT NEW MADRID EARTHQUAKE OF 1811-1812 was actually a series of over 2000 shocks in five months, five of which were 8.0 or more in magnitude. Eighteen of these rang church bells on the Eastern seaboard. The very land itself was destroyed in the Missouri Bootheel, making it unfit even for farmers for many years. It was the largest burst of seismic energy east of the Rocky Mountains in the history of the United States and was several times larger than the San Francisco quake of 1906.(more at https://www.scchealth.org/docs/ems/docs/prepare/newmadrid.htm)
In New York, Entergy Corp. (ETR)’s two Indian Point reactors, about 24 miles north of New York City, are near the intersection of two seismic zones, identified in 2008 by scientists at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. A magnitude 7 earthquake in the region is possible, based on features of the faults, according to the scientists. (Bloomberg.com)

The reactors, which supply 25 percent of the power used by New York City and suburban Westchester County, are designed " to withstand at least a magnitude 6 temblor," said Jerry Nappi, a plant spokesman. Entergy and the NRC determined that the power station “is still safe under the worst-postulated earthquake” after the seismic study, he said. ( Nappi, Bloomberg.com)

Tell that to the Japanese!!!

Some information courtesy of: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-15/quake-prone-pacific-rim-atomic-plants-may-hold-keys-to-u-s-nuclear-plans.html and https://www.scchealth.org/docs/ems/docs/prepare/newmadrid.html