Bukit tinggi earthquakes: November 2007 - January 2008

Abstract

The quiet and idle lives enjoyed by the people around Bukit Tinggi, Pahang were disrupted by the occurence of not one but three earthquakes on November 30, 2007. Their towns were further jolted by more than ten earthquakes in the last two months. Records of these quakes, obtained from the Malaysian Meterological Services, were analysed to make some sense of the tremors and speculate on the probable causes. This is the first occurence of earthquakes with epicentres in Peninsular Malaysia since the reservoir-induced quakes of Kenyir in the 1980s. The quakes do fit the characteristics of cluster earthquakes or earthquake swarms which are associated with motions along a fault line or within a fault zone. There are some speculations that can be made about the cause of these tremors. More research is due to get a better picture of the seismotectonics of this area.