With all the tsunami talk, I just want to say this about the earthquake...

[C Moon]

I was in Hollywood when then Northridge earthquake hit at 4:30 AM.
I jumped out of bed to find cover, and was thrown back into bed (oh no you don't!).

When it subsided, I went to my car parked on the street, and sat and listened to the radio: all the AM stations were just playing messages "We have just experienced a major earthquake in Los Angeles. Stay tuned for more details." I looked up at the hills in the complete darkness and saw flashlights wandering here and there. I went back to bed and tried to sleep.

My work required us to go in, so we sat at our desks on what felt like liquid ground. Some employees screamed and panicked with each aftershock—which went on the entire day.

That earthquake was a 6.7

I cannot imagine going through a frigging 8.8!! And the aftershocks were in the 7's and 6's (I was getting reports on my phone from USGS).

My god, that was a powerful earthquake in Russia.

[BaronChocula]

1. I went to my car that night too

Foolishly, it was parked in a spot beneath another apartment. Just miles away in Northridge my friend's car was crushed in a similar parking situation. Clearly, I wasn't thinking.

And I totally remember freakouts during aftershocks.

[malaise]

2. Seriously

This was a massive quake

[NJCher]

3. The day before Northridge

I had been working with two people from California to promote the Big Apple Circus in Manhattan.
That night they flew back to Northridge and arrived home just in time for the earthquake-.
They were OK but the timing?

[eShirl]

4. I remember waking up in bed in the dark feeling like we were in a ship at sea rolling on the waves

you could hear car alarms going off in every direction
then when everything finally stopped moving, you could hear neighbors all around cheering

[C Moon]

9. That would have been those alarms that had different sounds.

Yes. I recall that, too.

[Hugin]

5. The closest I've been to an earthquake that large...

Was about 200ft off of the ground.

The tower informed us immediately after takeoff that there had been a large quake. I believe it turned out to be 5+.

It was surreal to look down and see this perfect line of dust rising across the airfield at incredible speed.

[NJCher]

7. Had you just

Taken off?

And where?

Unusual life experience.

I once was the first person on a plane to spot a twister way off in the distance.

[Hugin]

8. It was in Northern California...

Yes, I was in an aircraft and it was around 05:00. Just light enough to see.

I was just looking through the list of earthquakes on the wiki to see if I could identify which one it was and interestingly it seems like most of the big shakers on the west coast have been between 04:00 and 05:00.

I remembered that I was on the ground for another one in that area, but I was riding in a van and didn’t feel it. We stopped at a station and were informed by the people inside, who were still gripping the counters and fixtures tightly of what had happened. I recall that one was around a 4.0.

[NJCher]

10. I'm trying to imagine what

that line of dust was like. Not something I would ever think of until you told how you saw it, but makes sense when you think about it.

Yes, that is interesting about earthquakes and 4-5. Not good for rush hour travel.

The only earthquake I ever experienced was in the classroom. Everyone just kind of looked at each other; the expression was did you feel what I felt?

To say it is disorienting is putting it mildly.

[Walleye]

6. I was in bed. I remember thinking if the building goes back-and-forth one more time it's gonna fall over.

Never had any experience with earthquakes before that. Except in Japanese post atom bomb horror movies.