Mt Kinabalu climbing activities go on as normal after earthquake

Sabah tourism minister Masidi Manjun says tremor was mild and it is safe to climb the mountain.

RANAU:Climbing activities at Mount Kinabalu are going on as normal after a mild earthquake here on Wednesday.

Saying such occasional mild tremors were not unusual in Ranau, Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Masidi Manjun added: “We haven’t suspended Mount Kinabalu climbing activities, they’re going on as normal.”

The mild tremor occurred at 08:04pm at a depth of 5km, 11km west of Ranau, according to a statement issued by the National Disaster Control Centre of the National Disaster Management Agency.

The statement said the tremor was felt briefly and that there was no damage to buildings and no casualties.

“The tremor we felt Wednesday night was mild and reports from the relevant authority have indicated no buildings were damaged and there were no casualties,” Masidi told FMT.

“Sabah Parks (in charge of Mount Kinabalu climbing activities) is monitoring the situation on site. We don’t have a specific earthquake strength whereby we put a halt to climbing activities. It depends on the situation on the ground.

“Of course, if the situation is unsafe on the mountain, we’ll suspend climbing activities there.”

Climbing was suspended after a magnitude 6 earthquake on June 5, 2015, which took 18 lives. Climbing activities resumed in December 2015. -FMT