Have experienced many small to moderate earthquakes here in California. None that put my particular area in a disaster situation. Most prominent was the 6.9-magnitude 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake during the World Series.
I was driving my car in San Jose at the time and I immediately pulled off to the side of the 2 lane urban road because I thought I had a tire flat. Upon getting out, witnessed very bizarre earthquake ground waves that moved very visibly along the road pavement liked maybe well spaced half foot crest to trough waves on a lake. Nothing near me was damaged while there were major damages in some areas, especially older buildings in San Francisco and Oakland. Such ground waves are so rare that there are no YouTube videos yet showing what they look like.
As a California native, am not afraid of experiencing strong earthquakes in most places I tend to be at. Here in Santa Clara County, there are few older buildings where anything less than a 7.5 magnitude is unlikely to be a danger. But there are plenty of older urban areas with tall buildings or multi-level freeways and bridges where such would be terrifying. Modern single story residential buildings and homes have little to fear other than lots of falling items and possibly starting fires.
