Wow, 7.1 is really big! Glad you are all OK. That's one thing I don't miss at all about living in CA! I think the biggest I've been in was Northridge in '94, which was a 6.7 but was only approx 30 miles from our home. That one had loads of strong aftershocks. Have you had many of those? I remember pretty much just spending the day reading books under the table, LOL.
My parents' house has chandeliers. One of them was over the foot of my bed when I lived there. (Yeah, I don't know what they were thinking either, but at least it wasn't the head of the bed?) Anyway, they would start rattling a few seconds before earthquakes started, which was kind of an effective (if scary) warning system.
Funnily enough, though, I didn't even recognize the last couple of earthquakes I experienced (both smallish though) - one was a couple years ago when I was in San Diego and I remember being annoyed that my neighbors in the hotel were having a wild party and stomping on the floor! LOL.
J. (born and bred in MA) experienced his first earthquake a few years ago when he spent the summer in Anchorage.
