KUNDASANG, June 7 — Sabah experienced 51 aftershocks up until noon today since the deadly magnitude 5.9 earthquake that hit the state on Friday.
Sabah Meteorological Department director Abdul Malek Tussin said that the subsequent earthquakes were categorised as weak, but some were felt all over the Ranau, Kundasang, Kota Belud, Tuaran and Kota Kinabalu region.
“The weakest recorded was at 1.6 on the Richter scale and the strongest a 4.3,” he said.
Some were too weak to be felt, but the tremors are said to have potential of causing landslides around the hard-hit Mount Kinabalu.
The force of the initial quake was so strong that it toppled one of the two “Donkey’s Ears”, towering twin rock outcroppings that form a distinctive part of the peak’s profile.
“We are unable to determine how long this is expected to continue,” he said.
The department also warned the public to take precautionary measures and to remain safe.
In Ranau, 21-year-old shop assistant Norsila Amri said her family has been living on tenterhooks since the earthquake on Friday morning.
“That one earthquake shattered every hanging object on shelves and on our wall except for the TV. We are still in shock and can’t sleep worrying about the next one.
“Every time we feel one, we still run out of the house,” she said.
Ranau town, some 16km south of the earthquake epicentre, took some of the brunt of the earthquake on Friday, with several buildings — including the mosque, banks and schools — damaged.
Sixteen people were killed on Mount Kinabalu while two more remain officially missing.
