I've experienced quite a few small ones--usually too small to do anything like take cover, but enough to get everybody talking. The two largest in my memory are the Loma Prieta and a midnight quake up here on the Rogers Creek Fault about a year ago.

During the Loma Prieta I was working in a cafe in Petaluma. I had just started cutting a lasagna when the quake started. As I was cutting in kind-of a sawing motion, the shaking of the work table seemed to be my fault--my coworkers just looked at me and said "Deanna, what the h#$@ are you doing over there?" We noticed the lights shaking and realized it had been a quake. Being pretty far removed from the epicenter, we didn't realize how bad it was until we got home to watch the news.

The Rogers Creek quake wasn't nearly as large, but it was centered only 5 miles from my home and only 1/2 a mile from my sisters home. This quake produced a large BOOM that woke up most people in the area and then the shaking started. My sister called a few minutes later scared out of her wits. They lost some stuff off of their shelves and her boyfriend was trying to walk when it hit--that didn't work, he fell but wasn't hurt.