Earthquake in Ranau, but no damage or casualties

National Disaster Control Centre says magnitude-3 earthquake occurred 11km west of Ranau, Sabah on Wednesday night.

RANAU: The Sabah civil defence department did not receive any distress calls following an earthquake, registering magnitude 3 on the Richter scale, which occurred here last night.

The department’s director Mulliadi Al Hamdi Ladin told reporters: “Our personnel in Ranau and Kundasang felt the tremor, but until now (at 5.15am), we’ve not received any distress calls related to the earthquake. We also confirm that there’s been no panic among the population in Kundasang and Ranau.

“We’re not alone in monitoring the situation before, during and after the tremor as the police and fire and rescue department are also keeping watch in their respective designated locations.”

According to the National Disaster Control Centre (NDCC), the mild earthquake, which happened at 8.04pm, was centred about 11km west of Ranau, and at a depth of 5km.

The civil defence department’s operations control centre and state secretariat also confirmed in a statement that a tremor was felt briefly and that there was no destruction of buildings nor were there any casualties reported.

The NDCC is also monitoring the situation, the department said in its statement.

The earthquake comes just nine days after the second anniversary of the Ranau earthquake which took the lives of 18 people, including foreigners, on Mount Kinabalu.

On June 5, 2015, an earthquake registering a magnitude 6 on the Richter scale, hit the region and even caused some damage to the tallest mountain in the country.

Ranau is said to be regularly hit by earthquakes, with a magnitude 4.7 earthquake recorded in 2014 as well. -FMT