Pictured: Daily Planet hosts Jay Ingram and Ziya Tong

When it comes to covering the disaster in Japan, the team at Daily Planet unfortunately “knows the earthquake story all too well,” says executive producer Jeff MacDonald.

It’s been a hectic ride with this event, though the workload is not completely out of the ordinary for a team that’s used to diving headfirst in its coverage.

Having plenty of experience covering natural disasters over the last 15 years, most recently with the quakes in New Zealand and Haiti, MacDonald says the team was well-prepared to tackle the constantly developing situation.

Not only that, but Daily Planet already had an archive of earthquake technology coverage from Japan, proving to be a valuable resource of knowledge and contacts to draw on.

“We had a wealth of these stories, such as one on what the Japanese had done to their buildings to prepare for such a situation,” MacDonald tells Playback Daily. “And because they had earthquake monitors throughout the country, we were able to access information (e.g. the coast moving eight feet)… and then find experts to tell us what it all meant.”

That wasn’t the only way technology played a role in DP’s coverage, as its web team was also tracking public reaction through social media.

“We have a very smart viewership and we pay attention to what they’re asking,” says MacDonald, noting that several radiation-related queries were put forth on Twitter and DP’s own forum, which were addressed by bringing on regular guest scientist Alan Nursall to explain how radiation spreads.

Not surprisingly, questions tend to spike during an event of this magnitude, MacDonald notes. “It engages audiences in ways that regular shows don’t necessarily.”

It’s hard to say how long the show will continue covering the disaster in Japan, but MacDonald is adamant about the story’s importance. “What those people are going through remains incomprehensible to me and I can’t wrap my head around it,” he says. “We have to figure out a daily way to tell the story. It’ll be a primary focus for quite a while.”

Daily Planet airs weeknights at 7 p.m. ET/8 p.m. PT on Discovery Channel.