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From the videos I've seen of the 2011 Japan earthquake, the general reaction generally follows a pattern of "meh, just an earthquake... okay, this is a strong earthquake... HOLY SHIT THIS IS A STRONG EARTHQUAKE." I don't know how much of that is particular to the earthquake, though, and it's hard to tell why that kind of reaction seems to occur.

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Small earthquakes are common enough in Japan that many people will just brush them off. My personal reaction to anything 4 or less on the intensity scale is just to stand/sit still. Basically, if it’s not strong enough to trigger the early warning system, I don’t really worry.

Even with the early warning, sometimes the earthquake will still be on the weaker end of the spectrum, so you brace yourself but not necessarily panic.

The 2011 earthquake started off moderately, so no one in my office ducked for cover until it really started to shake, which was already about half a minute in.

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