Using the Wave modifier, we can displace the mesh.
A subdivided plane will be used on which the earthquake effect will be seen.
This texture will be used for displacement of vertices
Displace modifier displaces the mesh based on a texture.
We can adjust the strength of the modifier, to make our mesh better.
For the earthquake to seem more natural, some parts will be affected more than other using Weight painting.
To add Ripple like effects, we use Wave modifier.
We can add props like trees in the scene to enhance it.
We add particle system to make a lot of copies of the tree.
We will need to particle system for our props for correct orientation and scale.