[threeoeight]

Gee, I grew up in the Bay Area (SF) and we had quakes all the time. No fuss, no bother, orderly response. Even when we all bounced across the room in our school desks, no big deal.
We were taught to remain calm.

[Alia]

No slight intended, threeoeight. I went from Japan to the SF Bay Area, and experienced numerous earthquakes in CA. I just found reactions to be different in the SF Bay Area from Japan. Whether on highways, bridges, classrooms, board rooms - I saw, in the SF Bay Area very few people looking to protect themselves. They might stand in a doorway, move away from shaking glass; but their reaction were not as definitive as I found in Japan. Falling objects are the hugest problem in a quake.

Imagine an earthquake in a classroom and all 35 students quietly but immediately getting under their desks and with no instructions from the teacher. That's what it was like in Japan. And that is not what I experienced in California. Things could have changed in Japan over the years; but I only left CA near 4 years ago.