Earthquake
An earthquake shakes the ground you stand on, which makes it a leading signal of large change. Traditional reading treated the earth as the seat of a household and separated the meanings by what followed the shaking. Rebuilding on the cleared ground is a good omen of restructuring your life, and getting clear while it shakes means leaving a risky situation in time. Being trapped under it, by contrast, signals that you are carrying something alone, so find someone to share it with. It does not forecast a real disaster.
The ground is beneath your feet whatever you are doing, so a dream of it shaking tends to arrive when something you had taken for granted is shaking. It is a dream that wakes you frightened, but tradition did not read it as purely ill-omened.
Readings by Situation
Getting clear while it shakes
A good sign that you leave something risky in time. Coming away unhurt reads as limiting the damage and moving on. If you have been hesitating over ending something, this favours not putting it off.
Rebuilding on the cleared ground
A good omen of restructuring your life. Tradition read tearing down and rebuilding as a household growing. If you are ending something now, this says what follows is not bad.
Trapped and unable to get out
A sign that you are carrying it alone. If you woke feeling crushed, the weight is real, so find someone to share it with. Tradition too read this as a time when your energy is pressed down, and advised rest.
Watching it shake from a distance
What shakes is over there, not under your feet. An earthquake moves the whole ground, so this dream points less at one person's affair than at the footing several people share coming loose.
An earthquake dream does not forecast a real earthquake. It usually appears when something you rely on feels unsteady. Still, if there is a place you genuinely worry about, checking it is a matter of peace of mind, not of the dream.