The earthquake that hit the San Francisco Bay Area in October 1989 and collapsed part of the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge was the first earthquake that received major live television coverage.

The reason- the quake hit right before game 3 of the World Series. The two teams that were playing- San Francisco and Oakland.

The Goodyear Blimp was on the scene, and provided live coverage of the earthquake and it’s immediate aftermath.

Source: Science Channel