My experience:
I was actually standing at the urinal (not something i really want to share) in the bathroom at work when suddenly I felt myself go off-balance, and felt dizzy I recall thinking that I was about to pass out, and don't recall feeling shaking or hearing rumbling - that started a few seconds afterwards. When the rumbling started and at first I thought maybe a tow-motor in our manufacturing facility was causing vibrations, but the duration seemed too long and the intensity increased. In all the shaking/rumbling lasted for about 10 or 12 seconds I guess, and I'll never forget the sound. The best way to describe it would be like being beside a train track. It was unnerving actually. I finished up quickly and made my way out of the bathroom and towards the next office building to see if it was felt over there. At that point most people were headed out the doors. I never felt an earthquake before, but was pretty sure thats what it was. I called my fiance in Front Royal to see if she felt it there, and they had already evacuated her office building. Earthquake confirmed. No damage out this way, as apparently the soil of the coastal plain amplifes the shaking, so it was not as intense here as it was points east.
It seems like that my intial dizzeness was caused by a side to side motion, maybe, or just the p-wave. It felt like the shaking that occurred a few moments later was a up-down motion, but low-amplitude and high-frequency. I assume that was the S wave.
