Big quake may hit Sabah

KOTA KINABALU - Seismologists believe that Sabah’s central or east coast region could be hit by a more intense earthquake than the June 5 magnitude 6.0 temblor that killed 18 people on Mount Kinabalu.

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia seismologist Prof Dr Azlan Adnan said an earthquake of up to a magnitude 7.0 was possible in those areas.

He noted that between 1924 and 2007, Sabah had been hit by 65 earthquakes with a magnitude of between 3.3 and 6.5.

“The data suggests that earthquakes occur at a frequency of about once a year,” said Dr Azlan, who is UTM head of research group – Engineering Seismology, Earth­quake Engineering Research.

Though there were many fault lines criss-crossing Sabah, he said the two that could cause serious earthquakes were the Lobou Lobou and Mansaban, each about 30km to 40km long.

Addressing a Malaysian Rubber Board (MRB) seminar on earthquake protection here yesterday, Dr Azlan said it was critical for buildings in Sabah to be made earthquake proof with the use of high rubber damping to isolate the structures’ earth movements during a temblor.

He said it was possible for most buildings to be retrofitted with the rubber bearings which MRB is among those in the forefront in terms of design and development.

MRB’s London-based Tun Abdul Razak Research centre chief executive Datuk Kamaruddin Ab Malek said the Government should make it mandatory for critical structures such as hospitals and schools to be earthquake proof.

The cost should not be more than 5% of the overall cost of the project, he added.

Citing an example, the construction cost of the second Penang bridge was about RM4.5bil while the cost of the rubber bearings that made it earthquake proof was RM30mil.

That was less than 3% of the total cost of the project, he added.

“From an economic point of view, there is no reason why rubber bearings cannot be widely accepted as a way to make our buildings safe from earthquakes,” he said.