Monday morning, people in the Los Angeles area were shaken awake by a 4.4 earthquake.  While earthquakes are nothing new to California residents it still took some of the local news anchors by surprise on live TV.  From the local news, to baseball games, to Judge Judy – let’s check out some awesome earthquakes caught on the air.

The greatest reaction to Monday’s earthquake had to be by the KTLA Morning News anchors.  While a quake can be starting, should these two have kept a little calmer?  You decide in this video that has gone viral…

http://youtu.be/SCJihgO5gmg

In Japan, broadcasters have earthquake warnings down to a science.  The second the earth starts shaking, all shows are automatically interrupted by a series of audio chimes and a map, showing the location of the quake, and a computer voice giving viewers instructions.

This video was taken from the day of the big 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan.  What’s interesting is not only do we get to see the first warnings about the quake (with live shots of their parliament meeting being shook up) but also at 1:32 we see the local news report as it interrupts the programming and then the quake strikes the studio.  Listen carefully to the studio crew’s reactions as well.  (It’s subtitled in English).

But it’s not over yet, stay tuned for the most shocking part.  At 3:30 the emergency computer kicks off the local news for a tsunami warning.  Listen how the alert tone and graphics take a much more serious tone.  The computers give viewers an estimate as to where the wave will hit, how high, and how much time they have to evacuate.  This tsunami caused massive devastation, including the near meltdown of the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant that has left numerous towns abandoned.  The live news coverage of the whole event is shocking.

Back in 2010, a magnitude 5.8 earthquake was centered in Virginia, but the effects were felt up and down the east coast.  First, it interrupts a live streaming news show in Washington DC…

…and then strikes a live mlb.com webcast from New York.  At first, the guy on the right is so focused on baseball stats; he won’t stop talking and really becomes a bigger bonehead with what he says at the end of the event…

One of the most famous earthquakes caught on live TV was during ABC’s coverage of the 1989 World Series from San Francisco.  Here’s what viewers saw (including me) from coast to coast as the quake strikes during pregame.

Lastly, only an earthquake can silence Judge Judy in her court.  Here’s what happened when a quake strikes as she’s taping an episode.  She is so out of there!

While we still can’t predict an earthquake, with everyone now armed with mobile devices, social media, and 24 hour news; video and news of the events go out to the masses seconds after it happens.

THE 411

What: earthquakes caught on TV

Where: mostly West Coast and Japan – but, pretty much anywhere

JERSEY JOE RECOMMENDS:

Having been through the New York earthquake, you almost don’t realize one is happening until it’s already half way over.  I’m sure my friends in California who have been through bigger quakes will have a different viewpoint.  I’ve only ever been through one and that’s good enough!

That live newscast from Japan during the 2011 earthquake and tsunami is really powerful.  It captures the whole event as it happened and I applaud whoever uploaded it for giving us a glimpse of that terrible day.  I’m not sure why we don’t have an earthquake warning system here in the US, like they do there.  Along with the tsunami warning system, it certainly saved many lives that day.  We have Amber alerts, Silver alerts, and the Emergency Alert System, so why not one for earthquakes?