@catsalad
The big ones I have been in (> 6.0 magnitude) have been pretty scary—you can’t really walk due to the shaking. Things fall, the building makes noises like it might fall down. After a few minutes they are over though. (So weather and fires can be worse for me ).
Near the epicenter in big EQs, > ~7.0, the acceleration can be > 1g. That must be really terrifying- things don’t stay on the floor. I haven’t experienced that, thankfully