A cross-party parliamentary group has urged the government to channel more funds towards the prevention of geological natural disasters, following the 4.1 magnitude earthquake in Segamat, Johor, yesterday.
The group, chaired by PKR‘s Wangsa Maju MP Zahir Hassan, said Putrajaya‘s disaster prevention investments were largely focused on floods and needed to be expanded to geological disasters like earthquakes, tsunamis and even landslides.
In a statement, it said the funds should go to targeted research and studies regarding earthquake risks and new seismic dangers the country might face.
The group also said the government should rope in the service centres of MPs for programmes to prepare local communities for such disasters, while learning from the best practices of other countries to implement risk reduction measures in Malaysia.
“Adding more funds, exchanging technology and experience (with other nations) on managing major disasters like earthquakes, and adopting new approaches to tackle new dangers and risks are desperately needed,” it said.
The group’s vice-chairman is PAS‘s Jerantut MP Khairil Nizam Khirudin and also comprises Pakatan Harapan’s Segamat MP R Yuneswaran, Bangi MP Syahredzan Johan and Miri MP Chiew Choon Man.
The meteorological department said the earthquake occurred at around 6.13am yesterday, 5km west of Segamat at a depth of 10km. Tremors were also felt in parts of Negeri Sembilan, Melaka, and southern Pahang.
There were no casualties from the quake although some Segamat residents reported minor damage to their property.
Johor early warning system, ancient faultlines reactivated
Johor housing and local government committee chairman Jafni Shukor said the state government was mulling the introduction of an early warning system for natural disasters under its smart city plan.
This would see residents within a certain radius alerted to disasters through their smartphones, a system already in use in Japan and Korea, he said, according to Bernama.
Separately, the Johor mineral and geoscience department said yesterday’s quake showed that there was tectonic stress held by the continental crust beneath West Malaysia that could be released without warning.
Its director, Noorazhar Ngatimin, said the earthquake’s depth of about 10km also confirmed that the incident was caused by movements in the crust, rather than volcanic activity or deep-sea subduction.
He said the reactivation of faultlines was not new in the peninsula, with similar tremors recorded in Bukit Tinggi, Pahang, from 2007 to 2010; as well as Kenyir, Terengganu (1984); Kuala Pilah, Negeri Sembilan (1987); and Manjung-Temenggor, Perak (1990s).
“Such events are rare because Peninsular Malaysia sits on the Sunda plate, a relatively stable tectonic zone,” he said, adding that while Johor also felt minor tremors in 2021 and 2023, those quakes had originated offshore near Sumatra.
