Not long after preparations and evacuations begin, the long-feared earthquake strikes, causing massive damage and killing thousands - among the victims is Anita, who had been trapped in a high-rise condominium elevator with Laurie during the quake. During the time that they are trapped they reconcile shortly before Laurie is rescued by other survivors, but Anita is less fortunate and dies when the elevator crashes to the bottom of the shaft. Another victim is Miguel, son of Clare's housekeeper Sonia, who is fatally injured during the collapse of his high school gymnasium at his graduation rehearsal. Steve Winslow is thought to be dead after being crushed by a wall at the airport, but he is revealed to have survived the quake at the end of the film. Other deaths include those of Wendell Cates, who is thrown to his death from his skyscraper window, and Chad Spaulding, who is electrocuted while attempting to escape from the USGS safety bunker beneath City Hall. A more redeeming storyline is that of Kevin Conrad, who is transformed from a cut-throat reporter looking for a hot story into a more sensitive and humanitarian character deeply affected by the tragedy and devastation. The remainder of the movie centres on the political and social fallout following the earthquake, and Winslow's attempts to reunite with her family (from whom she had become separated). The movie was aired over a two-night period on NBC during November 1990. There had been some public interest in earthquakes following the Loma Prieta earthquake which rocked San Francisco in October 1989, and in addition seismologists at the time were predicting a massive earthquake to strike along the New Madrid Fault line, which runs along the Mississippi River, an event which ultimately did not occur. (A real earthquake would eventually strike Los Angeles a little over three years later.) The original airing included a number of scenes and subplots that were removed from later airings; one of the excised storylines included an assassination attempt on South African trade minister David Motubu (Brock Peters), who is under the protection of security agent Roy Bryant (Clarence Gilyard, Jr.). The earthquake thwarts the assassin's initial attempt on Motubu's life, although Motubu's personal guard and Bryant's partner are both killed. Although Laurie's police officer boyfriend Matt (who is Bryant's good friend) tries to intervene in the destroyed streets of L.A., Roy falls victim to the assassin's gunfire, but only before Motubu kills the assassin himself. The miniseries was re-aired on 22 March 1992, sans the above-mentioned scenes that were cut from the film in order to have it run in a three-hour time slot on one night.