Source from: New Straits Times, Original Article
KUALA LUMPUR: Apart from climate change, Malaysia must also be mindful of earthquake risks, particularly in Sabah.
Although Malaysia is not located in the Pacific Ring of Fire, the country still faces the risk of experiencing local earthquakes.
MetMalaysia director-general Dr Mohd Hisham Mohd Anip said Malaysia is not situated on an active fault line like Indonesia and the Philippines.
“However, local earthquakes could still occur, especially in Sabah, which has active seismic activity.
“They could reach tremors of up to magnitude 6, based on records.
“Meanwhile, tremors in other locations are smaller compared with those in Sabah.”
Major earthquakes centred in Malaysia ranged between magnitude 6 and 6.3, with incidents recorded in Sabah in 1923, 1958, 1976 and 2015.
“The strongest tremor recorded in Sarawak was magnitude 5.3 in 1994.
“In Peninsular Malaysia, earthquakes with magnitudes between 1.6 and 4.6, centred in Bukit Tinggi (Pahang), Kenyir Dam (Terengganu), Kuala Pilah (Negri Sembilan), Manjung (Perak) and Temenggor (Perak), occurred in 1984, 1985, 1987, 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2013,” he said.
Meanwhile, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia engineering geology and soil mechanics expert Dr Nor Shahidah Mohd Nazer said in a statement that while the risks of strong earthquakes in Malaysia are low, they should not be taken lightly.
She agreed with Sabah geological expert Prof Dr Felix Tongkul, who predicted that an earthquake as strong as magnitude 6.5 could occur in Malaysia, particularly in Ranau and Lahad Datu.
She said the Bukit Tinggi, Pahang, earthquake was classified as a low-level tremor despite being in an active area due to minimal energy release.
“We must step up studies and monitoring of fault zones that have the potential to become active, as well as take precautionary measures, such as building tremor-resistant structures in high-risk areas,” she said.
Felix said a major earthquake could potentially occur in Lahad Datu, Sabah, in the coming years, based on the significant tremors reported there in 1923 and 1976.
In 2019, the Minerals and Geoscience Department published the Seismotectonics Map of Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak as part of mitigation efforts to reduce earthquake damage risks.
Among its recommendations was the implementation of quake-resistant building designs, using the map as a reference to identify disaster-prone areas based on Peak Ground Acceleration data.
