Is Mount Kinabalu still standing tall at 4,095 meters or is it now shorter? According to Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) geologist Professor Dr Felix Tongkul at a public talk on the Ranau earthquake at the UMS Recital Hall yesterday, the possibility of the mountain losing a bit of its height was not improbable but this would probably be just a few centimeters shorter.

Felix wanted to dispel wild theories circulating in the social media since the June 5 earthquake. “It was difficult to determine, despite advances in technology, where an earthquake would strike and when.”



“The reading of Kinabalu takes its cue from the exact location of the June 5 earthquake which was near the Mesilau Nature Resort in Kundasang, 20 metres from Ranau town. The earthquake was Richter 6 and not 5.9 as earlier reported,” said Felix. “In order to pinpoint the exact location of an earthquake, the readings from three stations must be taken and compared.”



Logically, he added, the mountain would have gone down within by at least a metre. “On the surface, this would show up as a few centimeters shorter. The mountain was still in the phase of experiencing aftershocks, 100 being recorded so far, as the fault lines extend all the way to Tuaran and the South China Sea.”