Explosion, tremor in Perak not caused by earthquake — MET DG

IPOH: The Malaysian Meteorological Department ( MET) has confirmed that the mysterious explosion, followed by tremor that was felt in several areas in Perak, particularly in Ipoh, was not caused by an earthquake.

Its director-general Alui Bahari said the sound of the blast and the tremor had nothing to do with the earthquakes that occurred in Indonesia.

“The loud bang and tremor that was felt in Perak is not an earthquake as there is no earthquake warning detected,” he said when contacted by Bernama here yesterday.

Residents in several areas in Perak, particularly in Ipoh, were panicky when they heard a loud bang akin to explosion that was followed by tremor at 11am.

The incident went viral on the social media when netizens claimed that it was due to the process of breaking the rock in the quarry in Simpang Pulai here.

There was also a claim that the loud bang was due to training exercise that was carried out by the Royal Malaysian Air Force ( RMAF), using explosives, however the RMAF did not receive any information on such exercise.

Ipoh district deputy police chief Supt Abdul Rani Alias when contacted said that the police would carry out an investigation on the incident.

Meanwhile, an Ipoh resident, Raja Azura Raja Abdullah, 24, a babysitter at a nursery here, said she heard an explosion and felt a tremor while feeding the children under her care at about 11am.

“The sound of the blast was not very loud but I felt the tremor as I was feeding the children then,” she said.

Elsewhere, a resident in Taiping, who declined to be named, said she heard the loud bang when she was working in her office.

“I was shocked as the sound of the blast was very loud but it only lasted for a few seconds,” she said. — Bernama