More earthquake seismic stations installed in Sabah

 By Olivia Miwil - June 5, 2021 @ 4:22pm

Sabah Meteorological department (meteorological and earthquake operations centre) deputy director Dr Chai Mui Fatt said there were only 13 seismic stations in the state before 2015. - Pic courtesy of Dr Chai Mui Fatt

KOTA KINABALU: More seismic stations have been installed in Sabah to detect earthquakes quickly, even minor tremors.

Sabah Meteorological department (meteorological and earthquake operations centre) deputy director Dr Chai Mui Fatt said there were only 13 seismic stations in the state before 2015.

"However, after the earthquake in 2015 we added another 15 and the state now has a total of 28 seismic stations.

"Those stations can detect earthquakes at the scale of below 1.0 magnitude as compared to 2.0 and above before this," he said.

Chai who said this at the "Remembering Mount Kinabalu Earthquake" webinar, added that a station has also been installed near Timpohon gate known as the "Poring Seismology station."

Meanwhile, he said that the 2015 earthquake with a 6.0 magnitude which killed 18 people could take place every 25 years.

The forecast is based on a previous record in 1991 where an earthquake at the 5.1 Richter Scale occurred in Ranau.

He said the active faults known as "Lobou-Lobou" in Kundasang was the cause behind the frequent tremors in Ranau.

However, Chai explained that based on a Seismic Risk Map for Sabah by Sauti et al 2021 takes into account the exposure level, the hazard is less in Ranau as compared to Lahad Datu and Sandakan.

"In Ranau, although the hazard is there, but in terms of population which is lesser, thus the risk is lower as compared to Lahad Datu and Sandakan," he said.