KOTA KINABALU, Feb 23 — Residents of Kota Kinabalu and nearby Putatan faced a tense 10 seconds of fear at midnight as an earthquake rattled the waters off the coast, sending waves of panic through the area.

Jalius Majin, 45, an e-hailing driver, said he was resting in his living room on the fifth floor of Taman Sri Serigai People’s Housing Project in Putatan when the tremor struck.

He said the quiet night turned to panic as his sofa shook violently, with walls and the roof creaking.

“The quake lasted around 10 seconds, but felt much longer. The ceiling fan in the living room swung violently, and picture frames shook. It was stronger than any earthquake we’ve experienced before,” he told Bernama.

Realising the danger, he woke his wife and three children, and the family hurried down the emergency stairs to the car park.

The Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) reported a 6.8-magnitude earthquake off Kota Kinabalu at 12.57 a.m., with no tsunami threat.

Clinic assistant Clarice Eve Mojigoh, 28, who lives with her mother on the sixth floor, said she was just about to rest after work but woke to find her wardrobe door swinging open due to the building’s movement.

“The windows were shaking, and I felt dizzy from the swaying. I quickly got my mother and took her downstairs, grabbing only a flashlight and my phone,” she said.

Meanwhile, a cleaning company worker, Md Zamri Yusof, 32, said the midnight scare occurred just after he locked the equipment storage room in a commercial block at Aeropod, Tanjung Aru.

At first, he blamed his dizziness on night-shift fatigue, but realised the corridor floor was actually swaying.

“The tremor lasted around 10 seconds, but the swaying forced me to hold onto the corridor railing. I saw the roller shutters along the floor rattling and screeching loudly,” he said.

Realising the quake was strong, Md Zamri abandoned plans to use the lift and hurried down the stairs to safety.

The tremor was widely felt by residents in Kota Kinabalu and surrounding areas, especially those living in high-rise buildings. — Bernama