Thousands of Malaysian workers all shook up
07/03/2007 The Star

JOHOR BARU: It was about noon when the furniture started moving. Then Ronald Chong’s office on the fourth floor of Wisma Peladang started to tremble.

He looked out of the window for signs of extraordinary waves in the Tebrau Straits.

“I was relieved not to see any fish jumping about. The water was calm even though I really felt the tremors in the building,” said the 29-year-old insurance agent.

Chong, like thousands of office workers and shoppers here, had to move out of the building when the tremors came.

Quick exit: Visitors and workers evacuating the Wisma Persekutuan buildings after feeling the tremors in Johor Baru yesterday.

The tremors stopped after 30 seconds and Chong and the rest went back to work only to be “shaken” by another round of tremors about two hours later.

The tremors, caused by a magnitude 6.3 quake on the Richter scale on Sumatra Island some 350km away, were mostly felt by those staying along the coast of Johor and Malacca.

Johor Fire and Rescue deputy director Mohamad Rodzi Sulaiman said they received some 50 calls about the tremors.

Accountant Clare Teh felt ill when she felt the first tremors from the eighth floor of Foh Chong Building.

“Only when I saw the tables and chairs shaking did I realise that there was nothing wrong with me or my blood pressure,” she said.

“We dared not use the lifts. I ran downstairs as I have never experienced anything like this before,” she said.

Many offices closed early and employers sent their staff home after the second round of tremors.

In MALACCA, more than 2,000 people were evacuated from buildings in Ayer Keroh, Melaka Baru and houses in Klebang.

At Wisma Persekutuan in Jalan Hang Tuah, building manager Ahmad Awi said more than 700 civil servants from 17 departments were evacuated when they felt the first tremors at around noon.

At Seri Bentara, located inside Seri Negeri, cracks were found on the left and right sides of the building.

Malacca Fire and Rescue director Mohd Din Rajad said inspections to the building would be made to ensure that it was safe to occupy.

In PENANG, a state Meteorological Department spokesman said only the workers of two office buildings in Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah and Beach Street felt the second round of tremors.

In KUALA LUMPUR, the tremors were felt at the University Malaya Medical Centre, TNB headquarters in Bangsar, HLA Building in Jalan Kia Peng, Pandan Indah flats and Sri Hartamas fire station.

In KLANG, several hundred employees from Westport’s 18-storey Tower Block were evacuated from the building.