Remember what a powerful medium social media is for promoting your work far and wide… and sometimes fast.

During the 5.9 magnitude earthquake that rocked the East Coast on August 23rd, news of the temblor in postings on Twitter and other social media outlets outpaced the seismic waves as they rippled across the Eastern seaboard and the nation from the epicenter in Mineral, Virginia. News outlets provided constant updates and average citizens weighed in with reports: both informational and humorous. Many of them were widely shared.

This clever cartoon highlights the speed with which Twitter spread the word. And a virtual mapping of the Twitter quake posts can be seen on this blog.

Just this week, when the pop singer Beyonce announced her pregnancy at the MTV Video Music Awards, it broke a Twitter record of 8,868 Tweets per second. The previous record holder was the final moments of the U.S. women’s soccer team’s game against Japan in July, with 7,196 Tweets per second.

While your work might not fall into the same category as seismic activity, sports championship titles, or celebrity baby bumps, it’s certainly a good reminder of the expansive power of social media and the number of people using it.