No respite for Ranau residents

KOTA KINABALU - There seemed to be no respite for residents as strong aftershocks sent hundreds of people out of their homes in earthquake-hit Ranau.

The 5.1-magnitude tremor at 2.25am yesterday was felt even in Kota Kinabalu, northern Kota Marudu and Kota Belud.

It was the strongest of over 60 aftershocks since the 5.9-magnitude earthquake that hit the western face of Mount Kinabalu and left 18 people dead on June 5.

Ranau district police chief Assist Supt Mohd Farhan Lee said his family members were among the few hundred people living at the police quarters to run out of their homes.

“Many of us went back in later. But some people stayed outside in makeshift tents out of fear,” he said, adding that there were no reports of casualties or damage to buildings and other structures.

Authorities are expected to conduct re-checks on the structural condition of the buildings in Ranau.

They are also monitoring areas for possible landslips that could be triggered by rains along the foothills.

“We ran out when the first aftershock shook the ground. We could hear sounds like rocks coming down from the mountain,” Bundu Tuhan villager Azlan Ramli said.

Another villager, Reynilda Nell Tiam Sunusun, whose family sleeps on the ground floor of their wooden house, said there were definitely rocks falling from the mountain.

The villagers in Kuang have reported several incidents of landslips and dead fish floating in the Kadamaian River, which geologists explained were due to high mineral content flowing into the river after the earthquake.

Sabah Meteorological Depart­ment director Abdul Malek Tussin said on the department’s website that it was not an earthquake.

“It was an aftershock. The tremors occurred at the same area.

“We said from the beginning that there would be aftershocks for a few weeks,” he added.

According to the Malaysian Meteorological Department, a moderate 5.1-magnitude earthquake occurred at 2.29am about 25km southeast of Kota Belud at a depth of 10km following a weak earthquake four minutes earlier 14km northwest of Ranau.

The department said the tremors were felt by those living in Ranau, Kudat, Beluran, Kota Marudu, Kota Belud, Kinaba­tangan and Kota Kinabalu.

Sabah Fire and Rescue Department spokesman Mohd Affendy K. Ramin said a team was checking for damage following the landslips.