TAWAU, Dec 30 — A weak earthquake with a magnitude of 4.3 on the Richter Scale that hit Tarakan in Indonesia at 2.09 am today caused some panic when tremors were felt in Tawau.

A shaken resident of Kampung Titingan Block 5, Yusri Yahya, 49, said his entire family of 10 were woken up from sleep after his house suddenly shook for a few seconds.

“My family and I rushed out of the house out of fear, and even the neighbours ran out of their homes, all shocked by the tremor, but after feeling safe, we all went back in,” he told Bernama.

Yusri said the tremor was experienced for the first time and he felt it to be so strong that the house shook but thankfully, no items were damaged and the family was safe.

Meanwhile, a resident of Rancangan Kampung Ranggu, Aminah Parok, 57, said she too felt a tremor that lasted five seconds while watching television in the living room of her house.

“I am used to going to bed late, and at 2.10 this morning while watching TV, I suddenly felt a small tremor and the zinc roof rattled like it was being ripped, but at that time I thought nothing of it and I just switched off the TV and went into the room to sleep.

“This morning when looking at Facebook, I saw information on a weak earthquake that occurred in Tarakan, Indonesia, early this morning,” she said.

Meanwhile, a resident of Sungai Pancang, Sebatik, Umar, 50, who was jolted awake from sleep, was shocked when he felt the tremor and his house shook and made a noise.

“The tremor was felt only once, and only for a moment. After realising it, I was still lying in bed, nothing was damaged and thankfully, nothing bad happened,” he added.

A spokesman for the Malaysia Fire and Rescue Department in Tawau, when contacted, said it had not received any emergency calls about the quake-related tremor.

The Meteorological Department in a statement said the epicentre was located at 3.8 degrees north and 117.6 degrees east, which is 79 km southwest of Tawau in Sabah and that a tremor was felt in Tawau.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency