lucy24 - 12:15 am on Oct 24, 2012 (gmt 0)

tried to shift the focus to building construction not being sufficient to withstand a moderate earthquake.

That is the appropriate focus for current levels of knowledge. I live in California. Every time I read about a faraway earthquake I am struck by the enormous death toll compared to quakes of similar magnitude in similarly populous parts of my state. It happens even in places like Japan or western Europe that have absolutely no excuse.

My cats sleep through anything less than a 5. (That's the level at which you start getting property damage.) And even then it's only about three minutes notice.