That's a tricky issue for you folks affected by this earthquake. I have seen a number of reports where people were fleeing out into the street during the shaking.

The bulk of injuries in an earthquake in places like the West Coast occur in that zone between inside and outside a building, due to falling debris. On the other hand, when the buildings are quite vulnerable to earthquakes, like many of these old buildings, especially the brick ones, there's also the chance that the building could partially or wholly collapse in a strong quake. That's a tough call.

If I were there, I would probably revert to my West coast thinking that it's safest to stay indoors if I were already there. Fortunately, it doesn't sound like anyone had to survive any major structural collapse. But y'know, building collapses and building facades crashing onto the sidewalk were a fact of life when I was in NYC even without an earthquake, so it's really a crap shoot.