Muhyiddin, Hadi and others flee building in Sabah aftershock
BY MOHD FARHAN DARWIS
Published: 7 June 2015 2:29 PM
Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin was rushed out of a building at the Kinabalu Park headquarters today when a minor earthquake struck this afternoon. – June 7, 2015.
The aftershock at about 1.35pm today also saw Sabah Chief Minister Tan Sri Musa Aman, Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan and PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang run out of the building together with Muhyiddin.
Muhyiddin was there to attend a briefing on rescue efforts being launched to recover missing climbers stranded on the 4,095m high mountain, after rockfalls fell on tourists and damaged the trekking path in Friday's earthquake.
The Malaysian Insider, however, understands that Muhyiddin and Hadi were only at the same venue by coincidence. The deputy prime minister is in Sabah for a working visit to see the damaged areas and check on rescue operations.
He was to have attended the national-level Kaamatan or Harvest Festival in Sabah tomorrow, but this has been cancelled and replaced with a day of mourning for the earthquake victims.Muhyiddin later told reporters of his suggestion for an earthquake monitoring centre to be set up in Sabah.
"We just felt a brief aftershock, and for the long-term, I feel that there should be more studies done by geoscience experts.
"Set up a monitoring centre as there is none in Sabah. With more studies on seismic movements, we will be able to develop SOP (standard operating procedures), or provide training to the locals," Muhyiddin said.
The deputy prime minister also said aid from the federal and Sabah governments would be given to each of the families of those who died on the mountain as a result of Friday's earthquake.
"The federal and state governments will help those who have sacrificed, based on the formula normally used in the disbursement of disaster relief aid, which is RM5,000 from the state government and another RM5,000, for the victims who have died.
"It is for their families to arrange funerals and burials," he said, adding that the aide would only be for Malaysian victims.
Goodwill assistance of RM2,000 to those who sustained injuries will also be disbursed, he added.
Several weak earthquakes struck Sabah earlier today, according to news agency Bernama.
A 3.1 magnitude trembler struck 16km northwest of Ranau, at 11.35am.
An earlier quake struck southeast of Kita Belud, measuring 3.0 on the Richter scale, at 7.35am.
Another was detected 90km northwest of Labuan with a magnitude of 3.2 at 8.40am, and yet another at 9.16am, 1km north of Ranau measuring 2.7. – June 7, 2015.
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