The United States Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 6.0 Earthquake at a depth of 10 km at about 7.15 am local time on Friday 5 June 2015 (about 11.15 pm on Thursday 4 June, GMT). There are reports of considerable damage to buildings in towns in the Ranau District of Sabah following the event, but the worst affected people appear to have been climbers on Mount Kinabalu, an exposed granite batholith which forms a popular local tourist attraction, where 195 foreign and Malaysian tourists and 43 local guides were at the time of the quake It is reported that one woman has been confirmed dead and four other climbers are know to have been injured, including at least one foreigner, and 89 people are still unaccounted for on the mountain.
Climbers trapped on Mount Kinabalu following the 5 June 2015 Earthquake. Charlene Dmp/The Malaysian Insider.
Borneo forms part of the Sunda Plate, a breakaway section of the Eurasian Plate caught between the converging Eurasian, Indo-Australian, Philippine and Pacific Plates. It is being pushed to the north by the movement of the Indo-Australian Plate to the south (which is being subducted beneath the Sunda Plate along the southern shores of the islands of Java and Sumatra), and to the west by the movement of the Philippine Plate to the east (which is being subducted beneath the Sunda Plate to the east of the Philippines). To the southeast of the island the Moluca and Banda Plates, which together form the island of Sulawesi, are being subducted beneath the Sunda Plate along the southeastern shore of Borneo, pushing the island to the northwest, and creating further tectonic stresses.
The approximate location of the 5 June 2015 Sabah Earthquake. Google Maps.
Witness accounts of Earthquakes can help geologists to understand these events, and the structures that cause them. The international non-profit organization Earthquake Report is interested in hearing from people who may have felt this event; if you felt this quake then you can report it to Earthquake Report here.
See also...
Authorities on the Indonesian island of Sumatra have begun to evacuate people from four villages to the south and southeast of Mount Sinabung, an active volcano on the north of the island...
The United States Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 4.8 Earthquake at a depth of 35 km off the south coast of Bohol Island in the Philippines...
The United States Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 5.3 Earthquake at a depth of 10 km about 37 km off the east coast of Luzon Island in the Philippines...
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