Tsunami in Sabah - land below the wind?

Tsunami in Sabah – land below the wind?

Would Tsunami really hit Sabah be it in Kudat, Sandakan, or elsewhere after any massive earthquake around us?  That is what Meteorological Department Malaysia said that Kudat district is likely to be hit by a tsunami if an underwater earthquake takes place in the Philippines (Manila Trench) or the massive collapse of a seabed cliff off Brunei.

So in preparation of that TSUNAMI DRILL IN PUTATAN, SABAH on 5^th November, 2016 so near to the Tanjung Aru Beach (TAB) and other major urban area in Kota Kinabalu, a stretch of sea front/ beach between Manila Trench and Brunei, which also happen to be so near to the Spratly Islands where China had a built up land.

With such a built up in South China sea, the current and waves would be diverted to Sabah should tsunami arise although some think it is unlikely to occur in Sabah but how would we know that such thing would not happen?  Now within days of the tsunami alert we have seen two sink holes in Likas roads which could indicate something in the movement or crack lines of earth underneath.

With the latest development of TAB into a Tanjung Aru Eco Development (TAED) project, how would we not be conscious now that TAB could be hit as well when tsunami comes ashore in Sabah?  TAED is now cheap with a “improvement” budget of RM5b and should such a tsunami of 50 meters as anticipated hit TAB, what would we lost?  The massive devastating losses could extend beyond TAB into Tanjung Aru township and the KK International airport as these two areas would be in sort of a valley with the hills of Kepayan inland.

So it is important that the Environment Protection Department (EPD) in its third Special Environment Impact Assessment (SEIA) takes special notice of this latest anticipation of the possible tsunami in the context of TAED.  Who would have known that our majestic Mt Kinabalu encountered a massive earthquake in 2015 and in the same vein tsunami is not that far off.

The important thing to do now is to improve TAB and our seashores naturally as how to ward off any event of possible tsunami with minimum losses to properties and lives.

Joshua Y. C. Kong 15 November, 2016