Don't panic.
Here's what will happen: If you're a ways away from the epicenter, you'll hear a rumbling sound before it even hits. When it does, the apartment you're in (or where ever you are) will begin to shake around you. It might shake up and down, it might shake side to side or probably some combination of both. If its a small earthquake, it'll just feel like those carnival funhouses where the floor isn't anchored. Chances are you, and stuff on your shelves won't fall down. I usually just get the sensation that my legs feel a bit like jelly during these. If its a bigger one the shaking will be vigorous, you might have trouble keeping your balance. Most earthquakes don't last more than a couple of minutes.
Whenever there is an Earthquake you should take safety precautions (if for nothing else at least its practice for bigger earthquakes) and there's different things you can do. In school we were always drilled to get under our desks, with one arm over our necks to protect them from breaking (our necks, not our arms), one arm over our eyes to prevent stuff from getting in them, and facing away from the windows in case they break (I've never experienced an earthquake anywhere close to as bad as the hypothetical earthquakes of our drills, but it doesn't hurt to be prepared). At home though, my parents and I always just stand in open doorways. I think the logic behind this is that doors are supposed to be the most structurally strong part of the house, but honestly I can't remember why a good doorway is the place to be. As for the baby... I don't know, I suppose you'd just have to protect it with your body, in which case the duck and cover method would probably be the safest choice. You'd probably have to do the normal baby stuff, like minding its neck while you're holding it, and not dropping it...
Don't run outside, if you're moving from one place to the next you increase your chances of getting hit by falling objects, or falling down yourself. If you're already outside, don't go inside. Don't put anything over your bed or anywhere else where you sleep unless you're absolutely sure its secure. Again, don't panic. Don't go anywhere until you're sure the shaking has stopped completely.
Perhaps because I've lived in SoCal since I was a kid, I don't find Earthquakes all that exciting. I definitely slept through the biggest one that ever hit my town. For the most part they're not that big and though we are supposedly past due for "the big one", all cities in the state have building codes, and emergency procedures set up for the time when it does. I think one of the reasons that the Earthquakes in other parts of the world have been so destructive, has been due to poor engineering and building construction, problems that aren't so rampant in CA.
Please don't worry about this too much. Do what you need to do to feel safe, practice getting under the nearest sturdy table or whatever you need to do. I hope you do well during your next earthquake, good luck!
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