Hmmm…snopes and the American Red Cross give a different perspective:

http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/household/triangle.asp

http://urbanlegends.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www2.bpaonline.org/Emergencyprep/arc-on-doug-copp.html

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It would seem you need to account whether or not you live in a country with strongly enforced earthquake codes (i.e. buildings that don’t pancake) in your assessment of what to do in an earthquake.