@catsalad My first earthquake had its epicenter near the earth's surface and so it was different from my second major earthquake where the epicenter was deeper underground. The one in 1971 jerked the house sideways and effectively yanked the shelves away from anything set upon those shelves. We were lucky. Mom walked over the mess of fallen objects calling for our cat, who didn't say anything. Mom got to the kitchen and saw all the mess of flour and sugar and coffee and tea leaves and other emptied cupboard contents strewn over the kitchen floor, but there was one clear spot on the kitchen floor and there he sat, very dilated pupils, our wide-eyed Siamese Cat sat up straight and silent and entirely puzzled over what on earth we had done THIS time!