News anchors in Los Angeles were left shaken when a powerful earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.1 struck Southern California on Friday night.
Sara Donchey and Juan Fernandez were live on the air for CBS affiliate KCAL 9′s evening newscast when the tremors struck. In a video that is going viral, Donchey told viewers that “we are experiencing quite a bit of shaking if you bear with us a moment.”
“We’re making sure nothing is going to come down in the studio here,” she added, before grabbing Fernandez’s arm.
“This is a very strong earthquake,” Donchey continued. “8:21 on the air here and we’re experiencing very strong shaking. I think we need to get under the desk.”
She then went to take cover as the network cut to commercials.
Check out the clip here:
Donchey also tweeted about the quake in real time:
And she attempted to add some humor to the scary situation:
Donchey later explained why the quake was “a timely reminder” for people to prepare their earthquake kits:
She also sent her wishes to everyone affected in Ridgecrest, which is just 11 miles from the quake’s epicenter, where authorities have reported multiple fires, building collapses and injuries.
Fernandez, meanwhile, commented “Whew!”