After the '89 earthquake in SF, I walked six miles back to my house with my sister. We came home to our apartment that was in shambles. All the kitchen cupboards had flown open with ALL the contents flying out. In the living room, two large bookshelves had toppled over and had fallen on the dining room table. There under the table were our two cats, Jersey and Bobcat. I swear if they had kitty hard hats they would have had them on! There was no way they were coming out from under that table! Smart boys.
Thankfully we had kitty carriers that we got out in the event of a strong aftershock. Thankfully we didn't need them.
A lady I work with lived in the Marina and her house collapsed. A bunch of us were given 20 minutes to help her get anything she could out of the house. When we got there her kitty had survived and stayed put thankfully. We were so relieved. She said she didn't care about anything else but her cat. We took the 20 minutes to pack up the cat and her supplies and throw whatever was salvageable out the window so we could could collect it outside. Thankfully she was on the top floor of the complex so while she lost her home she at least saved some of her valuables..especially her most valuable kitty!
I'd never leave my furkids behind.