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The 2019 NBA Summer League game between the New Orleans Pelicans and New York Knicks was stopped during the fourth quarter on Friday night. While it quickly became apparent that something was wrong on the television broadcast, the announcers revealed there was an earthquake that occurred during play.
The ESPN broadcasters spoke about the situation and Chris Montano of House of Highlights posted a video which shows the cameras shaking.
Doris Burke reported during the stoppage of play that the earthquake was felt in Los Angeles as well and impacted the Los Angeles Dodgers game. She also revealed that the United States Geological Society stated the earthquake was a 7.1 magnitude and was somewhat near Los Angeles.
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Earthquake Shakes Scoreboard & Speakers at Summer League
The game was suspended initially and after some discussion, the decision was made to postpone the Knicks vs. Pelicans along with the second game. Both the scoreboard and speakers inside of the arena were seen still moving after the earthquake. ESPN revealed the video, and a speaker was seen shaking roughly 15 minutes after the incident.
There was a brief delay at #NBASummer League because of an earthquake.
ESPN’s Rachel Nichols explained the impact of the earthquake and the distance that it was from both Los Angeles and Las Vegas. According to Nichols, it was roughly 115 miles from Los Angeles and 140 miles from Las Vegas, which is why it was felt at both professional sporting events.
Here’s another look at the scene inside of the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, which shows players and fans when the earthquake occurred, as The Ringer revealed.
Video from inside @ThomasAndMack as both the players on the court and fans in attendance began to feel an earthquake shaking the entire arena.
The game is currently delayed. #NBASummer
Update on Earthquake
As WeatherNation explained on social media, the earthquake occurred near Searles Valley, California and had a preliminary magnitude of 7.1. The photo below shows how close the earthquake was to both Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
BREAKING: Another big earthquake has struck California. This one was measured at a preliminary 7.1 magnitude around 8 p.m. Friday, one day after the 6.4 magnitude near this same location #earthquake
Roughly an hour after the earthquake happened, the Associated Press revealed that its magnitude has now been listed at 6.9.
As previously mentioned, the NBA decided that they would postpone the game between the Knicks and Pelicans, according to the ESPN broadcast. Beyond that, the matchup between the Phoenix Suns and Denver Nuggets which was set to be played on Friday night has also been postponed.
This decision was made only for the games at the Thomas & Mack Center, as there were games being played at the Cox Pavilion nearby in Las Vegas. The matchup going on there at the same time between the San Antonio Spurs and Orlando Magic continued to be played after a brief delay.
While it was initially believed that the Spurs vs. Magic game would continue, the NBA revealed they had cancelled the remainder of matchup following the third quarter.
For precautionary reasons, the remainder of tonight’s Spurs/Magic @NBASummerLeague action at Cox Pavilion has been cancelled.
There’s no word on how the games which were postponed will be handled, but obviously, that’s far from the most important thing currently.
The Dodgers game in Los Angeles continued play while it was revealed on ESPN that the WNBA matchup between the Washington Mystics and Las Vegas Aces was postponed.
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