Segamat residents face dual anxiety as a mild earthquake is followed by severe flooding, with 167 people evacuated to relief centres.
SEGAMAT: Residents here are on edge after experiencing a mild earthquake followed by severe flooding within hours on the same day.
Kampung Seberang Batu Badak resident Raja Sahrin Tengku Ismail said he was still in shock from the morning tremors when his house was inundated in the afternoon.
The 60-year-old noted that while flooding is annual, this incident felt more concerning as it coincided with the tremor.
“It’s quite alarming that earthquakes have become more frequent in Segamat,” he said when met at a temporary relief centre.
He expressed fears that floods in the area take a long time to recede, compounded by worries over possible aftershocks.
Raja Sahrin said the latest flood was one of the worst he had experienced.
He suspected it was caused by the collapse of an embankment built last year.
Another resident, Aishah Abd Hamid, said her house was flooded within two hours of the morning tremors.
The 65-year-old had gone to town to buy essentials when a neighbour alerted her.
“By the time I returned, the water level had already risen above knee height,” she said.
The Bandar Baru Segamat Fire and Rescue Station conducted flood monitoring in several high-risk areas due to overcast weather.
As of 2 pm, seven temporary relief centres in the district were sheltering 167 people from 55 families.
The Malaysian Meteorological Department reported a weak 3.4-magnitude earthquake in Bukit Kepong, Pagoh.
The quake occurred at a depth of 10 kilometres.
