SCARY: Earthquake interrupts live NBA Basketball match in USA's Las Vegas

After US's Southern California was rattled by a 7.1 magnitude earthquake on Friday night, the NBA was forced to cancel the finish of a two Summer League games, including a marquee sold-out matchup between New Orleans and New York

The tremors felt between the games between the New Orleans Pelicans versus the New York Knicks game was played out live on television in Las Vegas. The game was postponed due to the largest earthquake in two decades.

Amid the game, the commentators announced that 'we are facing an earthquake right now' and members in the audience were seen visibly rattled. Following which, the game was immediately stopped.

The primary issue at Summer League was the arena's overhead scoreboard, which is suspended from the roof by cables and swayed noticeably when the quake hit. A game between Phoenix and Denver, scheduled for later Friday in the Thomas & Mack, never started and was ultimately canceled - and a San Antonio-Orlando game in the adjacent Cox Pavilion, which does not have an overhead scoreboard, was also halted for precautionary reasons. 

The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres played through the earthquake during their game at Dodger Stadium, though a WNBA game in Las Vegas was also stopped.

''Safety comes first, second, third,'' Summer League executive director Warren LeGarie said.

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The earthquake was also felt during a baseball game between Los Angeles Dodgers' and San Diego Padres at the Dodger stadium. The players however continued to play while the tremors could be felt.

The shallow quake struck near the small city of Ridgecrest at 8:19 pm (0319 GMT Saturday), US seismologists said and follows a 6.4-magnitude quake that hit the same area the day before.

The latest quake was 11 times stronger than the previous day's "foreshock", according to the United States Geological Survey, and is part of what seismologists are calling an "earthquake sequence".

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The tremor was felt more than 150 miles (240 kilometers) away in Los Angeles, where the fire department deployed vehicles and helicopters to check on damage and residents in need of emergency aid.

The earthquake was the largest in southern California since 1999 when a 7.1-magnitude quake struck the Twentynine Palms Marine Corps base, according to The Los Angeles Times.

On Thursday, Caltech seismologist Lucy Jones had warned a press conference that there was "about a one-in-20 chance that this location will be having an even bigger earthquake within the next few days, that we have not yet seen the biggest earthquake of the sequence."

(With agency inputs)