I forget the exact description of the factoid, but something like a dozen magnitude 8+ earthquakes occur every year somewhere in the world. But the public really only notices them when they affect heavily populated areas directly through shaking, or indirectly, like the Indonesia tsunami. So that's the main reason why these giant earthquakes are on our minds lately.

AFAIK, the frequency of these massive earthquakes hasn't really increased. So the chance of a massive earthquake in your neck of the woods is probably just the same as it was 10 years ago, more or less.

There is the argument that a large earthquake can trigger other large quakes in other areas, but it's probably just as true that large quakes can also reduce the chance of quakes elsewhere by relieving tectonic stresses.