THE flooding in Kota Belud Sabah, one of the most severe in recent years, is the aftermath of the deadly Ranau earthquake of June 2015, a Sabah geologist said.

Universiti Malaysia Sabah geologist Dr Felix Tongkul, who two years ago predicted that more tremors were likely in Sabah after the earthquake, said sedimentation from the earthquake two years ago had made the Kadamaian River shallower. 

“The river is now unable to cope with the huge amount of rain which spills down from Mount Kinabalu.

“Apart from the heavy rain, the huge amount of water is from surface runoff as the catchment area around Mount Kinabalu have also degraded due to the reduced vegetation cover,” he said. 

The trees and plants surrounding the mountain act as a sponge during heavy rainfall but the landslide and mudslide occurrences after the earthquake have cleared some parts, especially along waterways, weakening their effectiveness to soak up rainwater. 

Heavy rainfall and strong winds over the Sabah west coast districts over the past week caused landslides that displaced 1,503 people, especially in Kota Belud.

Dr Tongkul in 2015 explained that the Ranau earthquake was caused by active fault lines from compression in three main tectonic plates. 

He said Sabah was located on the Southeastern Eurasian Plate bordered by the Philippine Plate and Pacific Plate.

“The Philippine Plate and the Pacific Plate move at a rate of about 10cm a year, colliding with the Eurasian plate. Additionally, there is the Australian Plate, which, although located far away,  moves around 7cm a year. Sabah will continue to experience tremors, more than Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia.” – October 2, 2017.