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.
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.