Occupants of Limbang Plaza seek safety outside the building.
LIMBANG: Over 100 occupants and members of the public hurried out of Limbang Plaza yesterday afternoon when they felt tremors following a 7.3-magnitude earthquake in the Celebes Sea, off the Philippines.
The tremors could be felt for about a minute at about 2.13pm.
According to an alert put up by the Malaysia Meteorological Department at 2.30pm there was no threat of Tsunami.
Government servants in the Resident’s and District Office on the fourth and fifth floor, Land and Survey Department and Public Works Department (PWD) on the seventh and eighth floor of the building were caught by surprise by the tremors and scrambled to safety.
According to PWD staff Gadong Asai, 55, she felt the vibrations while she was busy with her work at her office.
“My head was shaking involuntarily and the tremors were also experienced by my fellow colleagues, prompting us to immediately run to safety. It happened so quickly,” she said.
Working in the building for over 20 years, she said it was the first time she experienced the tremors.
Meanwhile, Limbang Fire Station chief Tawang Lingem said seven of his men were rushed in an engine to the scene after the department received a distress call from the public at 2.40pm.
“We checked on the control room, pump system and air-conditioning control room of Limbang Plaza and found that the building is safe and the incident did not cause any structural cracks to the building,” he said.
He declared the building safe at about 3.05pm.