If you feel an earthquake, you do not know if the epicenter is near you and the quake is a little one (5.x) or if the quake is very far out at sea and you feel it because it's gigantic (9.x).
I am going to make it a point when I go to Phuket in November to stay in a hotel near or with an internet connection. If I feel an earthquake (I live in San Francisco so we feel them all the time) rather than run like a maniac I am going to immediately go here:
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/recenteqs...uakes_all.html
And see what it says. It's usually very up to date, like up to the minute. If there's a earthquake off the coast of Thailand that is 5.0, I will go back to bed. If the one I felt is 8.3 off the coast of Sumatra, I'm going to run like hell. Pretty much that simple.