We lived in CA for 19 years. If it’s close, it’s a jolt. If it’s further away, it’s a sway. I graduated high school in Illinois. We had an earthquake in the spring of 1968. I was in Bloomington for a high school Choir competition and the chandeliers in the auditorium swayed for a full minute. California was MUCH worse!
I did time in Southern Cal as well and learned there were two kinds of quakes, shakers and rollers, irrespective of their distance.
Today's Illinois quake was a shaker. I was in downstate Illinois (near Charleston) for the 1968 quake ... it was a roller.