Jan 15, 2025 - News

Why East Coast earthquakes travel farther

Sabrina Moreno

A map of the U.S. with the headline "Ground Shaking from East versus West Coast Earthquakes" showing a bunch of red dots on the east coast from florida to Maine and up toward Canada with a yellow star in Virginia that says "M5.8 Earthquake in Virginia" There's also a more contained California quake — A map showing the difference between 2011's 5.8 magnitude earthquake on the East Coast and a 6 in California in 2004. Screenshot: USGS

Henrico's 2.8-magnitude earthquake near Short Pump Tuesday afternoon, which was followed by a 2.3 aftershock early Wednesday, was felt as far as Northern Virginia and Smith Mountain Lake, per the U.S. Geological Survey.

Why it matters: Earthquakes on the East Coast travel farther than they do in Western parts of the U.S. — and a 5.8 one from 2011 that originated in Louisa proved it.

State of play: That earthquake was so record-breaking the USGS commemorated its 10th anniversary a few years ago.

Within minutes of the earthquake happening, USGS' "Did You Feel It" map had 150,000 responses ranging from Florida to southeast Canada.
It was the most widely felt earthquake in U.S. history and resulted in more than $200 million in damages — including to the Washington Monument.

How it works: The rocks here (shout out the Appalachian Mountains), compared to the West, are much older. That allows seismic waves to cross "more efficiently" during an earthquake, per the USGS.

Plus, many of our buildings and bridges on this side of the U.S. were built before the 1970s and not designed to endure the shaking.

Between the lines: It's also how last year's 4.8 earthquake in New Jersey reached 42 million people in multiple states, including Virginia.

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Why East Coast earthquakes travel farther

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