Download Sabah quake caused by friction between tectonic plates

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Sabah quake caused by friction
between tectonic plates
'By Maria~ Doksil
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KOTA KINABALU: Preliminary
conclu'sions have found that the
6.0 magnitude earthquake in Ranau was triggered by the , friction between the tectonic plates of Borneo, Philippines and Australia. Director ofUniversiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) Centre for Research Management and Innovation, Prof Dr Felix Tongkul sa:id the pattern of strong tremors is seen every 25 years, but the potential moderate quake is almost every year. . Dr Felix who has been doing research on the geological evolution ofSabah and Sarawak ' for almost 30 years, shared the
, Dr Felix
chronology of earthquakes in
Sabah, which started since the or 25, years' time from now but
60s.
,
we cannot predict how strong the
"The first earthquake was seismic activity will be.
.
in Ranau town in 1996 with a
"Despite the damage ofbuildings
magnitude of 5.3, followed by a in Ranau town and Laban Rata,
, magnitude 5.1 to 5.2 in 1991 at the ' 'I saw an interesting situation
same location. A magnit)lde'above in Poring, where the hotspring
level '5.0 is con~idered strong, turned dark grey. It is caused by
where you can feel the quake the' fraction underground. ' •
almost everywhere in Sabah.
"Clay minerals from down there
"The other quake, recorded have been released, so we will see
in 2009 was in Mesilou with a more water in the hotspring. This
magnitude of 3.4, and another at will be another attraction to the
magnitude 2.9 in the following place," said Dr Felix, adding that
year. In 2011,an earthquake of the clay is not volcanic.
2.0 was also recorded in Ranau
"People have been askipg ifthe
.'
clay is volcanic but it is not. It is
town.
"Earthquakes of less than an intrusion ofthe hotspring," he
magnitude 5.0 are not serious said.,
'
Asked whether there is a need
because only Level 5 and above
will cause damage to buildings, to install earthquake-resistant
as we saw in Ranau earlier today structures in the buildings in
where a number of buildings were Sabah, Dr Felix said as long as the
buildings were built according
badly affected," he said.
Dr Felix also said that tbe to specification, they are enough
recent earthquakes in Indonesia and safe.
and Japan are not connected to
"There is no need to instl;lll
this.
earthquake-resistant structures _
"I have predicted this quake last in our buildings in Sabah, because
year, because I saw the pattern; if the developer has followed the
We might be experiencing right specification, it is already
another major earthquake in 24 sufficient," he concluded.