KUALA LUMPUR, June 5 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak today called for calm in the aftermath of an earthquake in Sabah, as he remained conspicuously absent from a dialogue he was scheduled to attend this morning.

Najib took to Twitter to pen a message for those affected by the early morning earthquake, even as attention turned to his last-minute pull-out from a highly-anticipated forum on the debt-ridden 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

“Saya dimaklumkan gempa bumi berlaku tidak jauh dari Ranau. Saya harap semua selamat & tenang,” he said using his Twitter handle @Najib Razak, referring to a town on Sabah’s west coast.

(Translation: I was informed that an earthquake happened not far from Ranau. I hope all are safe and calm).

At around 7.15am today, a 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck Sabah’s west coast, with reports stating that its epicentre was located 14km north of the Ranau - about two hours’ drive from state capital Kota Kinabalu.

State Meteorological Department director Abdul Malek Tussin said the earthquake depth was reported at 54km with tremors felt around Ranau, Tambunan, Tuaran, Kota Belud and the interiors.

The tremors this morning left locals in a panicked state, with many fleeing from office and residential high-rise buildings.

Although Najib did not mention the “Nothing2Hide” event on his Twitter account, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) had earlier today issued a statement explaining his absence at the forum.

The PMO said it was informed by the event organisers that the dialogue session had to be “postponed” on the order of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), due to safety considerations.

“This is due to considerations of safety issues at the location. Following the order and advice of the Inspector-General of Police, the Prime Minister is unable to attend this programme,” it wrote in the Malay language on its official Facebook page, but did not elaborate on the nature of security concern.

News portal Malaysiakini reported the IGP as saying that he will issue a statement after Friday prayers to explain his decision to cancel the forum, as well as details of the security threats that prompted the decision.