Andrew Gabriel wrote:

Well, I found them quite amusing when working in California,
as someone who hadn't grown up being used to them.
Of course, buildings in such areas are designed to handle
them. Even fairly notable ones which leave all the lights
and blinds swinging and creaking sounds from the building
didn't ever result in any plaster cracks that I noticed.
I think the largest was a 5.2 which was a couple of miles
away. It trashed the K-mart due to setting off the sprinklers
and burned down someones house due to a fractured gas pipe,
but apart from that, there was nothing to show for it in the
area. There were larger ones, but they were further away.

I was in Taiwan in Sep 1999 when the 7.6 quake hit. It was 1.50am and I
was in bed trying to sleep (jetlag). First it went quiet as the aircon
stopped, then the room started shaking (8th floor of a hotel). I tried
to stand up but couldn't. The sliding wardrobe doors were swaying
backwards and forwards, making a huge racket. After a min or so it
stopped. At first the hotel reception said that it was just a normal
shake - nothing to worry about. 15 mins later they put out a message for
everybody to go to the lobby. Some of the rooms at the top of the hotel
had been trashed. Outside there was no obvious signs of any damage,
apart from the power cuts. It was hard to believe over 2000 people died.

I've been back several times since, and have experienced smaller shocks,
but I still find it a completely un-nerving experience. The locals, of
course, are much more relaxed about it.

Kevin