‘I thought house was about to collapse’: Mild earthquake strikes Segamat in Johor
The earthquake occurred at 6.13am, according to the Meteorological Department.
PHOTO: JIMMYPUAH/X
Published Aug 24, 2025, 09:20 AM
Updated Aug 24, 2025, 01:44 PM
PETALING JAYA – An earthquake with a magnitude of 4.1 struck Johor on Aug 24 at 6.13am, according to the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia).
“The epicentre was located at 2.5 deg north and 102.8 deg east with a depth of 10km, 5km west of Segamat,” it said.
Segamat is about 180km from Singapore.
In an update on Facebook, MetMalaysia added that another mild earthquake of about 2.8 magnitude occurred 28km north-west of Kluang, also in Johor, at about 9am. The epicentre was located at 2.2 deg north and 103.1 deg east, with a depth of 10km.
Tremors for both quakes were also felt in some areas in Johor, Negeri Sembilan, Melaka and southern Pahang.
According to Malaysian news agency Bernama, the Johor state government has advised the public to stay away from unsafe structures and remain alert to instructions from the authorities.
Chief Minister Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi said he contacted Segamat district officer Mohd Ezzuddin Sanusi, who confirmed that no casualties or damage to property had been reported so far.
MetMalaysia will continue to monitor the situation.
Mr Nur Hafiz Mukmin, 32, who lives in Jalan Tasek Alai, told Bernama that his house shook at about 6.13am.
“I thought the house was about to collapse. I panicked and quickly got my wife and child out of the house,” he said, adding that the situation calmed down after a few seconds.
Housewife Normala Mohamed, 66, said the glass panels in her house shook violently as she was performing her prayers.
“I rushed straight to the kitchen, worried that something had happened. Thankfully, there was no damage to the house but the tremor was completely unexpected,” she added.
While peninsular Malaysia has historically experienced low seismic activity, the region is not immune to it, according to its National Disaster Management Agency’s website.
In 1922, Johor experienced two earthquakes - the first registering at a magnitude of 5.4 in January, and the other at a magnitude of 5.0 in February.
Between Nov 30, 2007 and Jan 14, 2008, a series of 13 earthquakes occurred along the Bukit Tinggi fault zone – an active fault spanning the Selangor and Pahang border.
In March 2025, following the devastating
earthquake that struck Myanmar and parts of Thailand
and Vietnam, a Malaysian expert warned that the country should remain vigilant even though it is outside the Pacific Ring of Fire.
Institute of Geology Malaysia president Abdul Rasid Jaapar said while Malaysia is not situated along the collision zone of major tectonic plates – reducing the risk of major earthquakes – several minor tremors have been recorded in certain areas over recent decades.
He told Bernama that the risk exists although “at present, there is no significant earthquake risk in peninsular Malaysia”.
Peninsular Malaysia has experienced several earthquakes, though these were lower than 5.0 in magnitude. Their epicentres were in Bukit Tinggi, Pahang; Kenyir Dam, Terengganu; Kuala Pilah, Negeri Sembilan; and Manjung and Temenggor in Perak. These quakes, from magnitudes 1.6 to 4.6, occurred in 1984, 1985, 1987, 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2013.
Most earthquakes are caused by the collision or sliding of tectonic plates.
However, the National Disaster Management Agency noted in an Aug 13 release that the 1922 Johor quakes were instances of intraplate seismicity, which means the quakes originated within the tectonic plate rather than at its boundaries.
Such intraplate earthquakes, it noted, are less common and their causes can be more complex.
“They often result from the accumulation and release of stress along pre-existing weaknesses in the crust, such as ancient faults or rift zones, which can be reactivated by tectonic forces acting across the plate,” it explained.
“Other contributing factors can include changes in the weight distribution on the Earth’s surface caused by erosion, sedimentation or even the movement of fluids deep within the crust.” THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
