@catsalad They can vary a lot.

The best one I experienced was a rolling motion while I was walking in a field of wildflowers near the ocean. Just instinctively sat down to wait it out and it was mild.

The worst was a powerful quake in a subduction zone so there was a lot of strong, noisy, relentless shaking, which I experienced inside a concrete building (Brutalist architecture, so brutal). Do not recommend.

The safety mantra, btw, is "Drop, Cover, and Hold On."

Cats hide as best they can.