PETALING JAYA: If you live near sloped areas, keep an eye on new cracks appearing in the walls or pillars of your home.
Take note of trees that seemingly continue to keep slanting as well.
According to the Minerals and Geoscience Department, these could be early signs of a landslide.
Other things to look out for are noticeable soil or debris movement, or bumps and cracks in the roads, said the department, adding that those living in areas with a history of landslides should pay close attention to their surroundings.
The department said 31 landslide hotspots and 254 critical slopes were identified across Malaysia.
In the peninsula, among the 31 hotspots include along the East-West Link Expressway, Tapah-Cameron Highlands route, Seremban-Simpang Pertang route, Rembau-Johol route and Bukit Antarabangsa.
In Sabah and Sarawak, locations in Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan, Miri, Kapit and Bau were identified as hotspots.
A total of 6,431 landslides and 602 deaths were recorded from landslide incidents in the 31 hotspots from May 11, 1961 to Dec 17, 2023. On the 254 critical slopes monitored by the Minerals and Geoscience Department, 104 were classified as being high-risk, while 97 were medium-risk and the remaining 53 being low-risk.
Sabah had the highest number of critical slopes with 36, followed by Johor, Pahang, Terengganu, Kelantan and Perak (25 each), Sarawak and Selangor (21), Negri Sembilan (19), Penang (13), Kedah (eight), Melaka (six), Perlis (four) and Kuala Lumpur (one).
A total of 37 of the identified critical slopes had mitigation measures completed while 15 were currently undergoing the process.
The remaining 202 meanwhile are currently being monitored for further action.
“Any information related to the monitoring of these slopes is dispensed to related agencies for further action either through reports or technical presentations at disaster management meetings at the federal, state or district levels,” the department said in a statement to The Star.
It said the classification and monitoring of the said slopes were done in phases, with reports given to the local authorities involved and technical agencies or departments to assist in mitigation and maintenance measures.
“The information is also given to responder agencies for their preparations in facing any geological disasters,” it said.
