POLITEKNIK Ungku Omar staff were shaken
when they felt a tremor and what sounded like an explosion yesterday.
Its deputy director, Muhamad Zubir Mohd
Hanifah, said he was in a meeting with a few other staff when he felt
the tremor.
He said the tremor, which lasted for
about a minute, rattled the doors and windows in the room.
“We were stunned and speechless for
while. After the situation returned to normal, we thought our staff
who were shifting things in the building had dropped something
heavy,” he said.
Mohamad Zubir said minutes later, Fire
and Rescue Department personnel arrived after a staff contacted them.
“Firemen conducted checks on the
buildings where they found nothing amiss and left after 15 minutes,”
he said.
Mohamad Zubir said students were on
their semester break since the end of last month and there were only
about 400 people at the institute yesterday.
It is learned that the tremor was also
felt in Gunung Rapat and other places in the Kinta Valley.
A spokesman for the Ipoh fire station
said they were unable to confirm the cause of the tremor.
The Meteorological Department ruled out
the possibility of an earthquake.
A spokesman said its Ipoh station
recorded an unusual wave between 11.10am and 11.20am.
“The characteristic of the wave was
abnormal and confined to Ipoh, pointing to a local cause due to an
activity in the area,” he told The Malay Mail.
At press time the authorities were
still unable to confirm the cause of the tremor.
08 June 2012
Unusual tremor rocks Ipoh
IPOH: A tremor shook several areas in
the city yesterday causing panic and confusion among the people.
The tremor started at 11.15am and
lasted several minutes.
It could be felt in several parts of
the city and its surrounding areas, including Tambun, Gunung Rapat
and Pasir Pinji.
Politeknik Ungku Omar deputy director
of academic support Mohd Zubir Mohd Hanifah said he was at a meeting
when the tremor struck.
"We could feel the vibration for
between two and three minutes.
"However, there was no report of
damage to property. This is the first time I have felt such an
unusual tremor," he said at the polytechnic yesterday.
Zubir said the Fire and Rescue
Department, which was informed about the incident, turned up at the
polytechnic to investigate, but did not find any problems.
A spokesman for the department
confirmed receiving a call from the polytechnic and immediately sent
its personnel to conduct checks.
According to an employee of the
National Security Council here, the tremor might have been caused by
quarry activities. The Meteorological Department spokesman said it
did not receive any report of the tremor.
It was also speculated that the tremor
could have been caused by an explosion from an army exercise.
Perak police chief Datuk Mohd Shukri
Dahlan said police had yet to ascertain the cause of the tremor.
"Until now, we have not received
any report from anyone with regard to any explosion which may have
caused the tremor."
2 earthquakes
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