A senior geologist from Universiti Malaya (UM) has warned in the wake of last week’s earthquake in Sabah that reactivated tectonic fault lines, long dormant, could possibly result in quakes hitting Peninsular Malaysia – in particular, Kuala Lumpur.
UM Geology Department Associate Professor Mustaffa Kamal Shuib expressed concern over the fact that KL actually sits near the epicentres of ancient fault line zones, which could cause devastating quakes should they become active again.
He told The Malaysian Insider‘s Maria J Dass that his alarm is two-fold, given that many structures in KL were never designed or built to withstand the effects of an earthquake.
“The general perception has always been that Peninsular Malaysia was safe because we are far from the Pacific Ring of Fire which surrounds us, but in recent years, there is evidence of earthquakes with focal points or epicentres right under our feet, due to the reactivation of old fault lines,” said Mustaffa.
He added that the ancient fault lines over which Peninsular Malaysia lies are now in danger of being compressed by surrounding active tectonic plate boundaries on the Sunda Shelf.
The Sunda Shelf, also known as Sundalandm might one day pop open due to the accrued compression, causing earthquakes on the surface right above it.
Peninsular Malaysia lies in the middle of the Sunda Shelf.
Sooner or later, the earth has to find some release by breaking through old fault line systems,” said Muzaffar.
“This causes earthquakes.”
In fact, Muzaffar and his team detected epicentres of possible earthquake incidents in 2007 and 2009 in Bukit Tinggi near Genting Highlands, Pahang – just over an hour’s drive from Kuala Lumpur.
The strongest tremor Muzaffar’s team measured in Bukit Tinggi registered at 3.5 on the Richter scale.
A 3.5 magnitude earthquake in a location like KL may not cause destruction but could damage buildings and structures, said Mustaffa.
There are four fault zones in Peninsular Malaysia – Bukit Tinggi, Kuala Lumpur, Lepar (north of Pahang) and Seremban (Negri Sembilan).
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