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Deadly M6.2 earthquake hits Northern Borneo, Malaysia

m6-2-earthquake-hits-northern-borneo-malaysia

A strong earthquake M6.2 (Geoscience Australia) hit Northern Borneo, Malaysia at 23:15 UTC on June 4, 2015. GA is reporting depth of 77 km (47 miles). USGS recorded M6.0 at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles).

The Malaysian Meteorological Department reports M5.9 earthquake, centered 16 km NW of Ranau, Sabah with a depth of 54 km (33 miles).

According to the USGS, epicenter was located 12 km (7 miles) WNW of Ranau, 40 km (25 miles) SSE of Kota Belud, 52 km (32 miles) ENE of Donggongon, and 54 km (34 miles) E of Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.

There are 1 190 375 people living within 100 km radius.

​​Tremors were felt across Sabah state, including Ranau and state capital of Kota Kinabalu. 

Police in Ranau (12 km from epicenter) said the earthquake lasted around 30 seconds, breaking windows in several shops and a water tank pipeline.

USGS issued green alert for shaking-related fatalities and economic losses. There is a low likelihood of casualties and damage.​

Overall, the population in this region resides in structures that are vulnerable to earthquake shaking, though some resistant structures exist.

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"Whilst not being large, this earthquake appears to have been responsible for at least some landslide activity," Dave Petley of The Landslide Blog writes.

"The clearest reports at the moment are from Mount Kinabalu, which is a popular trekking/climbing route," Petley said.

IBT Times is reporting there are fears that landslides on Mount Kinabalu claimed lives of 5 people. The quake caused huge boulders and rocks to roll down the mountain as the climbers were descending.

The Sabah Fire and Rescue Department confirmed information that 195 foreign and local climbers and 43 guides were stranded on the mountain, and says it is still trying to make contact with some of the guides, The Malaysian Insider reports.

"Information from other guides put the number of those unaccounted for at 89, with the possibility of some climbers trapped and injured. The department said it was continuously checking and updating information on those stranded."

Featured image credit: USGS

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5 Comments

  1. This writer had last year on 2 June 2014 predicted that , among other things, earthquake could cause substantial concern around April 2015 in countries or regions whose name begins with letter “N” or “B”. Here earthquake has occurred in North Borneo islands. So descriptions are matching.

  2. This site gives readings from various agencies, all except 2 report 10 km depth on this quake with the lowest reading being 5.2 and highest being 6.1.

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