7.3 Magnitude Earthquake in Philippines Causes Tremors in Sabah

The Celebes Sea off southeast Philippines was struck with a major magnitude 7.3 undersea earthquake earlier this afternoon and tremors were felt all the way to the east coast of Sabah, including Sandakan, Tawau as well as Kota Kinabalu.

Many people ran out of multi-storey buildings after they felt the buildings shaking following tremors which lasted for about 10 seconds. A civil servant, whose office was located on the third floor, said he felt his chair shaking and had a headache when he stood up. “The first thing that came to mind was to get out of the office, and I used the stairs to run down three floors,” he said.

According to the US Geological Survey, the quake was measured at a depth of 617km, about 466km east of Semporna. However, seismologists said it was far too deep to cause any damage and casualties. The Malaysian Meteorological Department also confirmed in a statement on its Facebook page that there is no tsunami threat.