The easiest way for a novice to sense an earthquake 'in advance' is to sense the P-wave. The P-wave travels faster than the S-wave. The P-wave is often a single hit, making it common to some other local disturbances (like a vehicle hitting a light pole).
The S-wave is more sustained, and does much of the damage. It comes later.
Now the bad news: These waves move
fast. 5000 m/s is quoted for the p-wave speed in granite. S-waves are quoted as 60% of that.
[citation]
Further bad news: You get no warning when you are near the epicenter; the only meaningful warning you get is when you are a long distance away and you are in less danger. If you're 20 miles away, your advance warning could be four seconds. iirc, that's about what I had for the 1994 Northridge quake.
A region-wide seismic sensing system could have increased that warning (for me) to almost 10 seconds. But it didn't matter, we were not at significant risk.
Generally, evacuating a building before (during) an earthquake is a Very Bad Idea. Long before the building collapses (if indeed it ever will) the window glass is showered everywhere, including the exits.