tremors and survival instincts

currently experiencing tiny tremors - earthquake. I wonder if I should run or let fate come what may. It reminds me of the courage of characters we read about and watch in movies - a lot of them try their hardest to survive in impossibly dangerous situations. Perhaps that is why we are attracted to them, to learning their stories. As if by doing so we can eventually emulate them in their willingness to survive. I seriously doubt this, however. Whenever I think about myself in those situations I would say " I think I'll be the first to die, I'm most likely going to give up." like this earthquake. I know that small tremors may mean larger tremors, and any forewarning should be welcome - but I hate the idea of standing outside in the street clutching only a book and feeling a little too worried to read it properly while I wait for something that might come. That is what I did last time.
(The book is to fend off boredome while waiting, I carry a book with me all the time in case emergencies like waiting in line crop up. My version of hell would be an everlasting drone of boredom.)
But then, I've never been in something truly horrid. So I can't seriously say that I won't try my hardest to live. I just hope that in any case I can have the wits to make the right choices. I do know that in most emergency cases I'm calmer than I expected. I never cry or yell, I just gently spiral down to despair because I don't know what to do. Like the time I was locked up in the bathroom. I hate begging, it's so degrading and I didn't want to satisfy my jailor (my mom), so I didn't make a peep. I started looking around. In this situation, however, there was a way out. After about 5 minutes I had discreetly crawled out of this tiny airhole we had in the back of the bathroom. The thing was filled with debris like dead bugs and their excrement, but I didn't care. It only mattered to me that she was unable to control me. I just didn't want to be in there with nothing to do. In the future if I expect such things to happen frequently I should store books in the bathroom. Afterall, I was about 9 at the time and the airhole already felt a bit tight then.