‘Johor quakes a reminder that severe tremors can impact Malaysia, Singapore’

JOHOR BAHRU, Malaysia (MNTV) – The two mild earthquakes over the weekend in Johor serve as a reminder that Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore and the surrounding region are not immune to the natural disaster that could trigger severe tremors and inflict damage to people and property, say geological experts. 

They add that there is precedent of earthquakes occurring in the area, citing examples of how a pair of earthquakes – which measured above 5 on the Richter scale – occurred in 1922 in Johor that were widely felt. There was also a tremor in 1948 felt near southern Singapore that inflicted damage to property, reports CNA. 

The experts also suggest that authorities should adopt monitoring measures to better understand seismic activities in the region and have in place warning systems to communicate timely and potentially life-saving information to the masses.  

“(Sunday’s) earthquake is a reminder – the Johor region already experienced even larger earthquakes (back) in 1922 – that at least some of the faults in the Malay Peninsula are active, even if earthquakes in the (area) are rare,” Aron Meltzner, an earthquake geology expert from Nanyang Technological University’s (NTU) Earth Observatory of Singapore, told CNA.

On Sunday (Aug 24), a pair of earthquakes struck northern Johor, triggering tremors in several Malaysian states including Negeri Sembilan, Melaka and Pahang. 

An initial 4.1-magnitude quake occurred about 6.15am, 5km west of the town of Segamat at a depth of 10km, while a second, milder quake of 2.8-magnitude occurred at 9am, 28km northwest of Kluang town. 

According to a statement from the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia), both earthquakes had epicentres near the Mersing Fault Zone, a major fault belt in the peninsula. 

MetMalaysia’s director-general Mohd Hisham Mohd Anip told CNA that while earthquakes do occur in the region, they are likely to be minor ones and the impact on life and property is expected to be small. 

He said that the Mersing Fault Zone, an area concentrated with crustal plate boundaries, is not as active as fault lines in Sabah. “Based on existing records of seismic activity in Peninsular Malaysia, earthquake magnitudes are weak and do not (usually) exceed magnitude 5. Therefore, tremors from this zone are not expected to have a major impact,” said Hisham. 

Yet, geologists whom CNA spoke to said that the incidents on Sunday are clear indications that the faults are still active, and that earthquakes of magnitude up to 6 could occur in the future in the region.  

The Mersing Fault Zone is one of the major fault belts in the peninsula, along with others like Bukit Tinggi, Kuala Lumpur, Lebir, Bok Bak, Bentong, and Lepar. 

Experts said the quakes show that such seismic activity does occur in the Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore region as a result of intraplate tectonic motion. Intraplate tectonic motion refers to tectonic processes – such as faulting and folding – within the tectonic plate rather than its boundaries. 

They added that this is even as the area is far removed from the Pacific Ring of Fire where interboundary plate movements trigger more serious earthquake activity. The nearest earthquake zone to the area is in Sumatra, around 400km from Singapore. 

Azlan Adnan, a fellow with the Academy of Sciences Malaysia (ASM) told CNA that the location of the epicenter of the two earthquakes on Sunday reinforces the point that the fault is “indeed active”.

“The alignment of the incident is also consistent with regional fault patterns (roughly northwest–southeast), suggesting the possible reactivation of an old fault,” said the earthquake engineering expert.  

He added that records of earthquakes due to major faults in the peninsula indicate that tremors with magnitudes of up to 5 have occurred periodically, and even magnitude six in rare cases. 

“Considering the Mersing Fault (Zone), which could be at least 20km long, if it ruptures in full, a magnitude of up to magnitude 6.5 could occur. This means that the possibility of a larger earthquake does exist,” added Azlan.  

Geologist Wei Shengji of NTU’s Asian School of Environment told CNA that there is precedent of significant earthquakes occurring – citing two tremors in 1922 with epicentres in Johor state. The tremors were recorded at magnitude 5.0 and 5.4, with the former near the Mersing Fault Zone while the latter near the Bentong Suture. 

“There is a chance that larger earthquakes could take place in the future, as bigger events (such as those in 1922) did occur in the past. The 1922 events were widely felt in Singapore,” he added.