THIS is the moment a brave presenter stays calm and soldiers on as an earthquake shakes the studio mid-broadcast.
France 24’s Spanish-language TV news was airing live from Bogota, Colombia, when a magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck on Sunday morning.
Helena Lozano, right, was speaking to a correspondent when the earthquake hit[/caption]
The France24 presenter remained calm – even as she realised the quake was more than a slight tremor[/caption]
Entire buildings collapsed when the magnitude 6.5 quake shook their foundations[/caption]
Presenter Helena Lozano was in the studio, wrapping up a report from a correspondent in Beirut, when the building began shaking.
The screen behind the desk wavered around and the camera footage wobbled unsteadily.
Lozano puts her hands on the table to steady herself, but doesn’t miss a beat.
At first, she described the disruption as a “slight tremor”, before quickly recognising the quake was more intense.
She said: “We are currently witnessing a slight tremor in the France 24 studios.”
Then, moments later, she admitted: “It’s not slight, it’s quite strong.
“The studio lights and cameras are shaking. We urge everyone to remain calm. We will return shortly.”
Despite the obvious danger, Lozano carried on speaking clearly and professionally – urging viewers to stay calm and evacuate if necessary.
The clip went viral on social media, with many praising her guts for keeping a cool head.
One impressed viewer wrote on X: “How calm and professional the presenter is – I almost died of fright at home.”
Another wrote: “My respects to her professionalism.”
The quake’s epicentre was located about 150km from Bogota, and just 10km beneath the surface, which made its effects more violent.
Tremors were felt widely across central Colombia and reportedly left four people injured after striking just after 8am local time.
The capital was spun into panic by the tectonic shudders, with sirens blaring around the city and locals fleeing their homes out onto the street.
The walls of this lean-to-style building were decimated by the quake[/caption]
Aerial view of the damage caused in the town of Paratebueno outside Bogota[/caption]
It was one of the strongest quakes the country has seen in years – and was followed up by a 4.0 magnitude aftershock 12 minutes later.
Large areas of shanty neighbourhoods were razed to the ground, with ramshackle homes left crumpled in piles.
Pictures emerged of huge paving slabs which had split and buckled under the enormous force in Bogota.
The last time Colombia was rocked by an earthquake stronger than this was 2016, when a 7.8 magnitude killed almost 700 people.
And in 1999, almost 2,000 were wiped out by a 6.1 magnitude quake.
