The 7.0 magnitude earthquake that shook Anchorage, Alaska inflicted heavy damage at a broadcaster in the city.
Video footage, seen at the top of this page, showed extensive damage in the KTVA station, including ceiling tiles that fell to the floor, standing water from pipes that burst, and electronics that were damaged from the water.
“Here’s a TV on the ground. All the TVs and computers, this is a camera, there are lights and everything. Entire light fixtures,” said one employee.
“The glass panels on the edit bays where people edit video and audio, just completely smashed,” said another.
Most Anchorage area television stations were off the air due to the earthquake. Despite the damage at KTVA’s station, it was one of the few broadcasters that provided even limited coverage, reported trade publication Newscast Studio.
Kicking on a backup generator, the station broadcast live from its newsroom and studio while also pushing coverage on Facebook and the statewide “907” channel. Parts of the coverage focused on the damage to the station.
“Morning meteorologist Jeremy LaGoo was handling coverage along with anchor John Thompson using makeshift microphone setups. In the background, staffers could be seen inspecting the damage and preparing the studio to go back online—albeit in phases,” the publication stated. “Coverage continued from the station’s weather center, which, rather impressively given the circumstances, had its video ribbon on despite darkened on-set monitors throughout the set.”
“The station eventually was able to pull up a subtly animated fullscreen map showing the primary earthquake and aftershocks, which it kept up on air extensively as rolling coverage continued,” Newscast noted.
KTVA’s newsroom felt the blow of the earthquake this morning. #anchorage #alaska #earthquake #weather pic.twitter.com/d1SaxriGw9
— Cassie Schirm (@cassieschirmtv) November 30, 2018
Vine Road, south of Wasilla, was heavily damaged in by the #akearthquake. An aerial view today. pic.twitter.com/m9Qhr0rdzg
— Marc Lester (@marclesterphoto) November 30, 2018
Earthquake Center Shares Advice
The Alaska Earthquake Center was sharing advice on its social media pages to people affected by the quake and its aftershocks.
Besides sharing locations of Red Cross and Salvation Army shelters, the center shared posts from news agencies, reporters, officials, and government agencies regarding information for residents such as how to react to a power outage, what services hospitals were providing, and aerial pictures of the damage.
Mike West, the director of the center, made a post before the day ended addressing how people after the major 1964 quake had trouble sleeping.
“I read an interview with a survivor of the ’64 quake who said that sometimes a room would remind him of where he was when that earthquake hit, and he would have to go outside. This was 50 years later,” he wrote.
“I’ve read accounts of major earthquakes where many people began sleeping outside afterwards even though their homes were intact. They were too anxious to sleep indoors. After the 2016 Iniskin earthquake, some continued to be troubled even by small quakes, months later. We tend to lean on the image of the resilient Alaskan, but some will be dealing with fear and anxiety from this earthquake for a while. If this describes you, know that a lot of people are in the same boat. It’s a normal, common reaction to a very sudden, very frightening event.”
