[11] The size of the rupture is as yet uncalculated, but similar quakes have been caused by slippage along fault segments that are 5 to 15 km (3 to 9 mi) long.

[1] After the earthquake, several websites speculated about whether hydraulic fracturing (fracking) for natural gas production could have caused or contributed to the quake.

A 2.5-magnitude shock occurred just after midnight on August 25, followed at 05:07 UTC by the strongest, a magnitude 4.5 aftershock that woke many residents in Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C., and was felt as far away as New England, Georgia, and Illinois.

[15][16][17][18] Scientists have known that the difference between seismic shaking in eastern North America versus western North America is due in part to the geologic structure and rock properties that allow seismic waves in the East to travel farther without weakening, but during November 2012, the USGS announced that recent research showed that earthquake shaking in the eastern United States can travel much farther and cause damage over larger areas than previously thought.

USGS Director Marcia McNutt said, "Scientists are confirming with empirical data what more than 50 million people in the eastern U.S. experienced firsthand: this was one powerful earthquake.

Calibrating the distance over which landslides occur may also help us reach back into the geologic record to look for evidence of past major earthquakes from the Virginia seismic zone.

The study suggested that the added information about East Coast earthquakes may prompt a revision of equations that predict ground shaking.

[32][33] Soon after the earthquake, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration ordered a ground stop along the East Coast, causing some flight delays.

[36][37] A huge increase of cell-phone calls immediately after the event congested the AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile USA, and Frontier Communications networks in the Mid-Atlantic region, causing disruptions and loss of service for as much as an hour after the earthquake.

The Gilboa Christian Church, in Cuckoo, built in 1832, was heavily damaged and rendered unusable; while its cemetery's vertical standing tombstones were toppled and razed to the ground.

[47][48][49] Amid public fears that the earthquake could cause a nuclear accident, prompted in part by the Fukushima disaster which had occurred six months prior,[50][51][52] the Nuclear Regulatory Commission sent additional inspectors to the Virginia plant after preliminary measurements suggested that the ground shook more than the two reactors were designed to handle.

Employees, many of whom left the building when the earthquake was felt, were alerted to the flooding by an alarm system that was installed after the September 11 attacks.

[66] Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial, in Arlington National Cemetery experienced significant damage when the quake shifted the structure's back wall by a quarter of an inch, producing large cracks in the plaster and requiring the closure of the House's back hallway and second floor.

[69] Two spare replacement panels of the Vietnam Veterans memorial that were stored at Quantico Marine Base were knocked down and shattered.

[74] A National Park Service spokesperson reported that surveys revealed cracks near the top of the Washington Monument, the world's tallest stone structure, which remained closed for repairs until May 2014.

[80] The Treasury Building suffered minor damage to exterior railings, some of which fell to the ground and caused closure of a sidewalk.

Numerous buildings in Georgetown, the Sussex County seat was evacuated while crews checked for damage; the Emergency Operations Center there reported 200 calls to 9-1-1.

[84] In Kensington, the tops of four spires on the Washington D.C. Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints fell to the ground along with several pieces of marble from the façade.

[86] In the Fells Point neighborhood of Baltimore, St. Patrick Catholic Church was deemed unsafe and was scheduled to be closed for weeks for repairs.

Calvert Mansion, a historic site and museum located on the Patuxent River in Upper Marlboro, received substantial structural damage and was closed indefinitely to the public.

[91] In Martinsburg, West Virginia, several government buildings were evacuated, and multiple citizens reported feeling their homes shaking violently enough to rattle picture frames off the walls.

[92] In Charleston, the Kanawha County Courthouse, the West Virginia State Capitol campus, and several other downtown buildings were evacuated; Kanawha County dispatchers received more than 350 telephone calls in 45 minutes, but there were not any reports of damage to buildings and infrastructure other than minor plaster cracking in the old courthouse.

[95] Trembling was felt in buildings in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Altoona, Hollidaysburg, York, State College, Erie, Allentown, Reading, Harrisburg and elsewhere in Pennsylvania.

[96] Just before 2:00 p.m., in the midst of an opening game between New England and Europe in the Little League Baseball World Series, many people in South Williamsport experienced a ground shaking LLBWS first.

A house reportedly was moved off its foundation and its roof buckled in the Three Springs area, Huntingdon County Emergency Management Director Adam Miller said.

[96] In Center City Philadelphia, a window shattered on a lower floor at the Independence Blue Cross building, and the company sent its 3,000 employees home for the day.

[104] In Camden, a vacant house partially collapsed, and government buildings were evacuated, with city workers given the option of returning home for the day.

[108] The earthquake was felt in several southern states as far from the epicenter as Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and Kentucky, but no damage was reported.

[123] Due to the significantly slower propagation of seismic waves compared to the near-speed-of-light transmission of Internet traffic, some Twitter users read about the earthquake seconds before feeling the tremors.

[126] Staff at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., reported that some of the animals in the park appeared to show behavior suggesting that they anticipated the earthquake from seconds to minutes before it was felt in the area.