IPOH: Residents around Gerik in Perak, are advised not to worry following a weak magnitude 3.4 earthquake recorded in the Temengor area at 12.06am on Friday (Aug 29).
State Science, Environment and Green Technology Committee chairman Teh Kok Lim said that earthquakes had previously been recorded in the Temengor area in 2013 and 2016, while a magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded in Manjung in 2009 at a depth of 22.5km.
He said that following such occurrences, the Minerals and Geoscience Department conducted the Active Fault Project in 2016 to obtain information on faults that have the potential to cause tremors and earthquake activity based on satellite image information, Landsat and field studies.
“Generally, the risk of earthquakes occurring in Perak is associated with the presence of fault structures in certain areas.
"However, the (strong) likelihood is low and should an earthquake occur, it is expected to be within the low to moderate magnitude range,” he said in a statement on Friday (Aug 29).
He said that earthquakes below magnitude 5 were generally considered a small to light tremor, capable of being felt by people but unlikely to cause significant damage.
According to studies, he said that potential active faults in the Temengor area can be categorised into line sources and point sources.
He said the line source in Temengor is identified as the Banding Fault is divided into nine segments, with segments two to seven located within the study area.
Each segment ranges between 2.9km and 6.6km, with the potential to generate earthquakes measuring between magnitude 3 and magnitude 4.1.
“The earthquakes are shallow, with the maximum potential magnitude 4.1 occurring at a depth of 1.6km, while the minimum magnitude of 3.0 could occur at a depth of 15.3km,” he said.
Meanwhile, he said the point source in Temengor is located near the Bersia Dam, with a recorded magnitude 2.8 at a depth of 10km.
He also said that two boreholes for the installation of concrete GPS seismic reference markers (PAG) were drilled at separate but nearby locations in the Parit Bakong area.
The boreholes were each drilled to a depth of 30 metres, with the distance between them not exceeding 300 metres.
