EARTHQUAKE IN MALAYSIA (MILD TREMORS) AND NZ (BIG TREMORS)...........

EARTHQUAKE IN MALAYSIA (MILD TREMORS) AND NZ (BIG TREMORS)...........


Wednesday February 23, 2011

Tremors in Damansara buildings cause panic

PETALING JAYA: People rushed out of the six-block office buildings in the Damansara Town Centre after mild tremors were reportedly felt on the sixth floor of blocks A and E at about 12.45pm.

Kuala Lumpur Fire & Rescue Department Assistant Director of Operations Azizan Ismail said firemen conducted checks but did not detect any damage.

He said the occupants were allowed back into the buildings about an hour later.

A Meteorological Department spokesman said an inspection conducted in the area did not indicate any sign of tremors.

“We conducted an inspection within two hours of the report but did not detect any sign of tremors,” he said, adding that it could have been triggered by construction work nearby and not the earthquake in New Zealand.

Meanwhile, Higher Education Ministry ministry director-general Prof Dr Rujhan Mustafa said the earthquake had not affected Malaysian students in Christchurch.

“This is according to the feedback we got from students in Canterbury and Lincoln,” he said in an SMS to The Star.

“The students’ residential areas were reported to be safe and there was no major damage,” he said.

When asked on the number of Malaysians there, he said a head count will be performed today once Malaysian officials arrive in Christchurch from Wellington.

“The Malaysian Students Depart¬ment director together with four embassy officers have taken a ferry from Wellington to Christchurch since the airport is closed,” he said.

Earlier, he told The Star that all forms of communication with Malaysian students have been cut off as phone lines are down.

Dr Rujhan said there were 390 Malaysian students studying in Canterbury, Lincoln and Otago universities.

Wednesday February 23, 2011

Malaysian students filled with fear during NZ quake

Reports by WONG PEK MEI, SYLVIA LOOI, ALLISON LAI, LESTER KONG, SHAUN HO and P. ARUNA

PETALING JAYA: When a powerful earthquake hit Christchurch in New Zealand, Malaysian students who were still in their lecture rooms and laboratories ran helter-skelter as the ceiling began to fall. Some simply froze, not knowing what to do.

Many others huddled among themselves in their homes as aftershocks following the 6.3 magnitude quake hit them again and again.

Marcus Chee Sau Siong, 22, an undergraduate at the University of Canterbury, said he did not react quickly enough.

“I was hit on the head by a falling ceiling panel,” he said.

The earthquake, which struck nine minutes before his lecture ended at 12.51pm, caused a massive traffic jam.

“It happened so fast, we did not know what to do,” said Chee.

“A few of my coursemates suffered cuts on their hands and feet,” he said via a Facebook chat interview, adding that his usual 15-minute drive home took two hours yesterday.

Joshua Chen, 19, another Malaysian undergraduate at the university, said the ceiling, floor and walls of a computer laboratory where he was shook “as though it was jelly”.

Software tester Jason Lai, who was having lunch at Westfield mall in Riccarton, said panic and screams ensued with various objects flying off the shelves and crashing to the ground.

Lai, from Miri, Sarawak, said water supply was disrupted.

“Local authorities advised us to keep usage to a minimum,” he said.

Edict Tan, who was shopping at a supermarket in Christchurch, said grocery items on the racks fell and hit shoppers when the earthquake struck.

“Everyone was nervous and some started crying,” said Tan, from Kulim, Kedah, in a Facebook message reply.

University of Otago medical student Adila Shazreen Ahmad Ghiti, 23, said she and six housemates had to run in and out of their rented home in Riccarton for safety with each aftershock that occurred at intervals of five to seven minutes.

“It was exhausting,” said Adila in a phone interview.

Hah Foong Lian, who is pursuing a doctorate in Communications at the University of Canterbury, first thought the tremor was one of the many aftershocks she had felt since the Sept 4 earthquake that hit New Zealand last year.

She suspected it to be something more serious when it became more violent.

Postgraduate student Jacky Tay Chiang Hau hid under his desk at the computer laboratory when the tremors began.

Tay, from Batu Pahat, Johor, said he could not get his mother on the phone as the lines were down.

Tiong Li Ching, a medical student in her fifth year at the Otago University, said she was at the Christchurch Public Hospital for her clinical attachment when the earth shook.

Tiong, from SS3 in Petaling Jaya, said she was not hit, but added that her friend’s house was badly damaged.