Erie Times-News reporter Scott Waldman wrote an excellent companion piece -- or sidebar, as we call it in the newspaper business -- to the main story on Sunday's earthquake in Hawaii. The quake measured 6.6, which is pretty serious, and Waldman's story really gave you a feel for what happened.

It's because he was able to hook up with a former Erie woman, who has lived in Hawaii for the past 25 years. Darlene Mandel described the feeling of quietly watching a movie in bed early Sunday morning, and then having her TV set crash to the floor, as the quake shook her home.

The best coverage of earthquakes stems from being in the right place at the right time -- or being in the wrong place at the wrong time, I guess you could say. In 1989, my brother, Patrick Cuneo, agreed to cover the World Series for me, because my wife and I were expecting a baby, who was already 1 week overdue. Normally, the World Series is a pretty nice assignment, and Pat was excited about heading out to San Francisco to watch the Giants play the Oakland A's.

As luck would have it, a big quake hit the bay region just as the second game of the series was about to begin. San Franbcisco's Candlestick Park heaved and shuttered, sending fans and players racing out of the stadium. Pat was actually knocked to the floor of the press area, and a few minutes later, as he made his way out of the park, he said it felt so strange to be walking quickly right next to A's and Giants players, who were still in uniform.

To give you an idea of how news and information can get screwed up when such an event happens, a local TV news reporter called our house to try to get some information about my brother. It happened that my mother-in-law was at our house, taking care of our older son, then 18 months old. My wife and I were already at the hospital. My mother-in-law was so upset that she called me and said: "Kevin, I don't know how to tell you this, so I'm going to give it to you straight. Brace yourself. There was a huge earthquake at the World Series and everyone is dead."

Needsless to say, that information took my breath away. I made my way to a television at the hospital, flipped through the channels, and saw that people at the ballpark, while extremely frightened, were indeed still alive. Then I was able to return to my wife, who was starting labor.

Pat remained on the scene for several days, covering all aspects of the earthquake. After the initial shock wore off, his reporting instincts took over and he provided excellent coverage for the Times-News.

All this came back to me, as I watched the coverage of the quake in Hawaii. It also reminded me that my mother-in-law, while a wonderful mother and grandmother, is a poor news reporter, especially when the big ones hit the California coast.

-- Kevin Cuneo