MALAYSIA: EARTHQUAKES

Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, Vienna, Virginia, Disaster Reduction, Vienna, Virginia,

USA USA 

MALAYSIA: KUALA LUMPUR IS THE FEDERAL CAPITAL

MALAYSIA

• Population: 23,522,482

• Area: 329,750 km2

• Coastline: 4675 km

• GDP: $207.8 billion

• GDP Per Capita: $9,000

MALAYSIA IS AT RISK FROM EARTHQUAKES & VOLCANOESMALAYSIA IS AT RISK FROM

EARTHQUAKES & VOLCANOES

• EARTHQUAKES and VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS (usually from sources outside the country; i.e., Indonesia, not inside)

• EARTHQUAKES and VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS (usually from sources outside the country; i.e., Indonesia, not inside)

WESTERN MALAYSIA, WHERE KUALA LAMPUR IS LOCATED, IS AT GREATER

RISK FROM NATURAL HAZARDS THAN EASTERN

MALAYSIA

KUALA LUMPUR

KUALA LUMPUR

• The city covers an area of 243 km2 (94 sq mi) and had an estimated population of 1.6 million in 2010.

• Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, was an urban agglomeration of 6.9 million in 2010 and one of the fastest growing metropolitan regions in Malaysia.

MALAYSIA: PART OF THE COMPLEX EURASIAN AND INDO-AUSTRALIAN

PLATE TECTONICS

MALAYSIA: PART OF THE COMPLEX EURASIAN AND INDO-AUSTRALIAN

PLATE TECTONICS

MALAYASIA IS ON THE SUNDA SUB-PLATE

THE SUNDA TECTONIC PLATE

• The Sunda Plate is a minor tectonic plate on which the majority of Southeast Asia is located.

• The Sunda Plate was formerly considered a part of the Eurasian plate, but GPS measurements have confirmed its independent movement at 10 mm/yr eastward relative to Eurasia.

EARTHQUAKE OF JUNE 5, 2015

M6.0 (USGS)

16 km northwest of Ranau, Sebah

DEPTH: 54 km (34 mi)

Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Joseph Pairin Kitingan blamed the tragedy on

a group of 10 foreigners who "showed disrespect to the sacred mountain" by posing naked at the

peak last week. He said a special ritual would be conducted later to "appease the

mountain spirit."

PHYSICAL EFFECTS

• The M6.0 earthquake struck early Friday near Malaysia’s Mount Kinabalu a popular tourist destination.

• The ground shaking triggered landslides, sending huge granite boulders tumbling down the 4,095-meter-high peak.

MOUNT KINABALU

INADEQUATE RESISTANCE TO HORIZONTAL GROUND SHAKING

EARTHQUAKESEARTHQUAKES

SOIL AMPLIFICATION

PERMANENT DISPLACEMENT (SURFACE FAULTING & GROUND

FAILURE)

IRREGULARITIES IN ELEVATION AND PLAN

FIRE FOLLOWING RUPTURE OF UTILITIES

LACK OF DETAILING AND CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS

INATTENTION TO NON-STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS

CAUSES OF DAMAGE

CAUSES OF DAMAGE

GLOBAL “DISASTER

LABORATORIES”

GLOBAL “DISASTER

LABORATORIES”

SITING AND BUILDING ON UNSTABLE SLOPES

LANDSLIDESLANDSLIDES

SOIL AND ROCK SUCEPTIBLE TO FALLS

SOIL AND ROCK SUCEPTIBLE TO TOPPLES

SOIL AND ROCK SUCEPTIBLE TO LATERAL SPREADS

SOIL AND ROCK SUSCEPTIBLE TO FLOWS

PRECIPITATION THAT TRIGGERS SLOPE FAILURE SHAKING

GROUND SHAKING THAT TRIGGERS SLOPE FAILURE

CAUSES OF DAMAGE

CAUSES OF DAMAGE

GLOBAL DISASTER LABORATORIES

GLOBAL DISASTER LABORATORIES

LATERAL BLAST

VOLCANIC

ERUPTIONS

VOLCANIC

ERUPTIONS

PYROCLASTIC FLOWS

FLYING DEBRIS

VOLCANIC ASH

LAVA FLOWS

LAHARS

TOXIC GASES

CAUSES OF RISK

CAUSES OF RISK

DISASTER LABORATORIES

DISASTER LABORATORIES

PRELIMINARY SOCIAL EFFECTS

• By Saturday, the death toll had reached 13.

• Some climbers were stranded; others made it down safely.

• People were advised to expect aftershocks

PRELIMINARY SOCIAL EFFECTS

• The ground shaking damaged buildings, schools, a hospital, and roads in Ranau.

SEARCH AND RESCUE OPERATIONS

• About 60 rescuers and four helicopters were combing the mountain, where loose rocks and boulders that fell during the quake blocked part of the main route.

SEARCH AND RESCUE

MALAYSIA IS AT RISK FROM OTHER NATURAL HAZARDS MALAYSIA IS AT RISK FROM OTHER NATURAL HAZARDS

• CYCLONES

• FLOODS (especially during cyclone season)

• LANDSLIDES (TRIGGERED BY TOO MUCH RAIN OR EARTHQUAKE GROUND SHAKING )

• CYCLONES

• FLOODS (especially during cyclone season)

• LANDSLIDES (TRIGGERED BY TOO MUCH RAIN OR EARTHQUAKE GROUND SHAKING )

Floods and landslides from cyclones are the primary hazards

affecting Malaysia. Effects from earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are usually

from distant sources. Droughts also occur.

KUALA LUMPUR AND PUTRAJAVA

• Kuala Lumpur is the cultural, financial, and economic center of Malaysia, and also the seat of Malaysia’s Parliament and the official residence of the King.

• Putrajava is the location of the executive and judicial branches of the federal government, which were relocated from Kuala Lumpur in 1999.

TOWARDS DISASTER RESILIENCE

IN MALAYSIA A Paradigm Shift

From Disaster Proneness Will Improve the Quality of Life in Malaysia

CONTINUATION OF THE STATUS QUO WHEN MALAYSIA IS AT RISK

AND DISASTER PRONE - - -

Will result in new and more complex HEALTH PROBLEMS

WILL result in unnecessary DEATHS AND INJURIES

WILL result in longer and more costly RECOVERY and RECONSTRUCTION

A PARADIGM SHIFT TOWARDS DISASTER RESILIENCE IN

MALAYSIA - - -

Will result in fewer and less complex HEALTH PROBLEMS

WILL result in fewer

DEATHS AND INJURIES

WILL result in shorter and less costly RECOVERY and RECONSTRUCTION

A PARADIGM SHIFT FROM DISASTER PRONENESS TOWARDS DISASTER

RESILIENCE IS

A THREE STEP PROCESS

TOWARDS DISASTER RESILIENCE IN MALAYSIA

• Step 1: Integrate Past Experiences Into Books of Knowledge

• Step 2: From Books of Knowledge to Innovative Educational Surges to Build Professional and Technical Capacity

• Step 3: From Professional and Technical Capacity to National Disaster Resilience

Step 1: Integrate Past Experiences Into Books of

Knowledge NOTE: A book of Knowledge is

everything we know or think we know about Malaysia’s risk-causing

hazards

BOOK OF

BOOK OF

KNOWLEDGE

KNOWLEDGE

- Perspectives

- Perspectives

On Science, Policy,

On Science, Policy,

And Change

And Change

BOOKS OF KNOWLEDGE

Are “TOOLS” to facilitate a commitment by Malaysia to minimize

the likely impacts of the inevitable future cyclones, floods, landslides

earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and droughts, thereby anticipating and

preventing disasters

WHAT DO WE KNOW?

• Disaster resilience has become an urgent global goal in the 21st century as many Nations are experiencing disasters after a natural hazard strikes, and learning that their communities, institutions, and people do NOT yet have the capacity to be disaster resilient.   

Step 2: From Books of Knowledge to Innovative

Educational Surges to Build Professional and Technical

Capacity in Malaysia to Minimize Likely Impacts in the

Next Disaster

NOTE: Step 2 is a task for a Nation’s “Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine,” its

educational institutions at all levels, and its electronic and

print media that provide public information

WHAT DO WE KNOW?

• Disaster resilience does not just happen; it is the result of decision-making for a national paradigm shift from the status quo to an improved “coping capacity” that enables the country to recover quickly after a disaster.   

GOAL: MINIMIZE THE “DOMINO EFECTS” OF THE NEXT DISASTER

Step 3: From Professional and Technical Capacity to Science-based Decision-making for a

Paradigm Shift from the status quo to Disaster Resilience in

India

NOTE: Step 3 is a task for Malaysia’s “decision-makers,”

(i.e., its political leaders, stakeholders, and leading

professionals)

who have a basis for deciding on the nature and scope of a

national paradigm shift

LIVING WITH NATURAL HAZARDSLIVING WITH NATURAL HAZARDS

INCREASED DEMANDS INCREASED DEMANDS ON COMMUNITYON COMMUNITY

INCREASED DEMANDS INCREASED DEMANDS ON COMMUNITYON COMMUNITY

A DISASTER:A DISASTER:

INSUFFICIENT INSUFFICIENT CAPABILITIES OF CAPABILITIES OF

COMMUNITYCOMMUNITY

INSUFFICIENT INSUFFICIENT CAPABILITIES OF CAPABILITIES OF

COMMUNITYCOMMUNITY

LIVING WITH NATURAL HAZARDSLIVING WITH NATURAL HAZARDS

DEMANDS ON DEMANDS ON COMMUNITYCOMMUNITY

DEMANDS ON DEMANDS ON COMMUNITYCOMMUNITY

MINIMIZE IMPACTS OF FUTURE MINIMIZE IMPACTS OF FUTURE OCCURRENCES:OCCURRENCES:

CAPABILITIES OF CAPABILITIES OF COMMUNITYCOMMUNITY

CAPABILITIES OF CAPABILITIES OF COMMUNITYCOMMUNITY

MALAYSIA’SMALAYSIA’S

COMUNITIESCOMUNITIES

MALAYSIA’SMALAYSIA’S

COMUNITIESCOMUNITIESDATA BASES DATA BASES AND INFORMATIONAND INFORMATIONDATA BASES DATA BASES AND INFORMATIONAND INFORMATION

HAZARDS: GROUND SHAKING GROUND FAILURE SURFACE FAULTING TECTONIC DEFORMATION TSUNAMI RUN UP AFTERSHOCKS

•NATURAL HAZARDS MAPS•INVENTORY•VULNERABILITY•LOCATION

RISK ASSESSMENTRISK ASSESSMENT

RISK

ACCEPTABLE RISK

UNACCEPTABLE RISK

A PARADIGM SHIFTA PARADIGM SHIFT IN MALAYSIAIN MALAYSIA

•PREPAREDNESS•PROTECTION/PREVENTION•EARLY WARNING•EMERGENCY RESPONSE•RECOVERY/RECONSTRUCT.

POLICY OPTIONSPOLICY OPTIONS