Early this week on 5th June we were shocked to hear about the earthquake that struck Ranau, Sabah with a magnitude of 6.0. This earthquake lasted for 30 seconds and is the strongest to affect Malaysia since 1976.

According to a geologist, the earthquake was caused by the presence of active fault lines. The tremors resulted in a rapid release of energy where seismic waves move in all directions from the source. As the centre of the earthquake was near to Mount Kinabalu, the focus caused massive landslides. Tremors follow along faults, or longitudinal cracks in the earth that have bent and snapped back like an elastic rebound. Then, aftershocks will take place, which are smaller tremors that occur while the Earth’s crust settles.

The source of the Poring Hot Springs turned murky for a few hours due to the earthquake, which disrupted a clay deposit that interrupts the fault gap that heats up the rainwater which enters the earth. The water flowed more smoothly and had access to more heat. Strong tremors in Ranau are predicted to continue whenever the stored energy exceeds the Earth’s ability to store it, in which occurs on a regular basis. In the case of Ranau, an earthquake will happen at an approximate rate of every 25 years.

During the earthquake, one of the peaks on Mount Kinabalu (called the Donkey’s Ears) was broken off. The water at Poring Hot Springs, a popular tourist area near Ranau, also turned black after the event. Other infrastructures were also reportedly damaged with around 23 schools in six different districts affected, while Ranau Mosque was effectively damaged due to the tremor.Serious damage occurred to the hostels and resthouse near the summit of Mount Kinabalu. Buildings were similarly affected by the earthquake in Kota Belud and Tuaran. The areas around Kundasang and Ranau suffered water supply disruption when the main water drainage pipe burst, and several plants in both regions were damaged with a leakage in the deposition tank.

187 climbers were impacted, according to Sabah official sources, with most of them from Malaysia and Singapore, and others from Australia, Canada, China, Denmark,India, Japan, Kazakhstan, Netherlands, Philippines, South Korea, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom and the United States. 137 of them were stranded but subsequently rescued. As of 7 June, 18 people of 5 nationalities were confirmed dead.

Source: Wikipedia

Location of Ranau

The Donkey’s ear: Before and after the earthquake