ESPN anchor Malika Andrews wasn’t shaken up when a 4.4 magnitude earthquake hit Los Angeles on Aug. 12, rumbling the ESPN studio during her live interview on NBA Today.
Andrews was interviewing basketball analyst Rebecca Lobo via video call when the quake shook the walls of the studio and jolted the cameras, sending the broadcast into a brief state of disarray.
“We have a bit of an earthquake here in Los Angeles,” Andrews said, pausing the interview. “So we’re just going to make sure that our studio lights, everything stays safe, everything shaking…everybody good? Alright, thank you so much for bearing with us through that. Our studio was shaking just a little bit.”
The earthquake only registered a 4.7 on the Richter scale, but it looked and sounded much more intense than that on live television, with ESPN’s camera and studio shaking.
Andrews then checked on the camera crew and made sure her in-ear monitor was still working before seamlessly resuming the show.
Once she confirmed that everyone was okay, she seamlessly carried on with her conversation with Lobo, barely skipping a beat the entire time.
Truly an outstanding display of keeping calm and collected during a dicey situation.
Following the segment, Lobo praised Andrews’ handling of the situation on social media.
“I was stunned,” Lobo wrote. “By both the earthquake and how Malika Andrews handled it like a boss. Wow.”