I grew up in Los Angeles. Earthquakes were commonplace.

I do have a stange earthquake tale.

One winter I was out ice skating on a very large lake that was only partially frozen-over. I put my ear to the ice. What I heard was a very strange reverberating echo that almost sounded like a saw harp or a musical saw, like what this guy is playing:



Fast forward to Mount Morrison many years later.

I was sleeping on the ground (no pad) one night when there must have been 30 or 40 earthquakes. I put my ear to ground.

What I heard was exactly the same sound that I heard out on the ice.

I've never felt an earthquake in the mountains. In 1971 I got to feel the 6.6 San Fernando / Sylmar quake. Our house was just a few miles from the epicenter. I was on the second floor and it felt like I was in one of the machines at a hardware store that shakes paint cans. The other large one I felt was the 1989 Loma Prieta. I was 70+ miles away as the crow flies coaching waterpolo when the pool deck started rolling and heaving and huge waves started running back and forth in the pool, nearly throwing a couple of kids onto the deck from the water. I remember turning to someone and commenting, "If we are feeling this, there is serious damage somwhere."

In an earthquake, lie down on the floor and place eggs around you, with the long axis (of each) pointing up. If the roof falls in the eggs will save you, provided you are less than 2" thick.

You need more than one layer, actually. Build up a layer of eggs around you.
Recommendation: be fast.