What does an earthquake feel LIKE?

Question

Notice the "like"! (How did Tuesdays LA earthquake feel like)? Specifically a 6-7 magnitude quake

Answer 1

it was a 5.4 not 6 or 7 but i felt that quake and basically the word "earthquake" describes it... it feels like the earth is quaking... which it technically is...

but basically unless you live near a fault zone u will probably never feel one....

Answer 2

It depends on 3 things: how strong the quake is, how far the quake is centered from you, and what kind of structure you are in. I was about 30 miles from the recent Los Angeles Basin quake and in a one-storey building. AS to how it felt I will use two analogies since I was able to the P-wave and S-waves separately. For the P-wave which has a vertical motion, imagine that something really heavy landed next to you on a springy floor, but instead of just you feeling the jolt and being lifted a little bit the whole building is lifted and dropped. This is what a lot of people refer to as the “boom” of an earthquake. Next came the P-wave a few seconds later and it has a horizontal, rolling motion. For this one, imagine being right on the other side of a wall from a speeding train without being able to hear it. Everything shakes and rattles, and you feel it in your bones. That is what the quake was like for me.  

Answer 3

http://mistupid.com/geology/richter.htm

that will answer your question!

Answer 4

I haven't experienced an earthquake but, it feels like the ground is shaking and if you are out in the middle of nowhere lthe ground looks like waves and if it is a high magnitude your legs could break from the sudden movement and in the city streets could break up and bulidings would fall.

The Earthquake in LA wasn't bad like I saw on TV that light fixtures were shaking back and fourth. No damage from what I know.