@Diana Well, maybe I need to adjust my earthquake standards. Not really having any, the point of reference is the one I'm familiar with growing up. That's the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Loma_Prieta_earthquake" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">1989 7.1 earthquake which happened right before the third game of the Baseball World Series in California</a>. That was scary to watch on tv and as such I've just figured that's the benchmark for scary earthquakes. In my mind, +7 is scary and dangerous but below this it's still an earthquake don't get me wrong but it's not quite the same as a big one.  Oh and after the 1989 earthquake, I kind of got into earthquakes and read all sort of historical fiction set before, during and after the 1906 earthquake. The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1906_San_Francisco_earthquake" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">1906 San Francisco earthquake</a> and the subsequent fire was probably scarier but than the 1989 earthquake but I wasn't alive for the 1906 one so in my mind that doesn't really count.