Ipoh Tremor: This Is Not The First Time It Has Happened
The boom and tremors in Ipoh have been happening occasionally since 2018 and its source is still a mystery.
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Social media platform X (formerly Twitter) was abuzz today (21 October) after several users in Ipoh, Perak, shared their experience of a strong tremor followed by a loud boom that sounded a lot like a bomb.
The TRP team in Ipoh confirmed and informed there indeed was a tremor and loud explosive sound around Bercham.
Boom and tremor felt throughout several areas in Ipoh
According to several posts on X, many users claim to have felt the tremor in different parts of Ipoh including in Tambun, Hospital Raja Permaisuri Bainun, Chemor, Meru, and Falim.
What’s even more shocking is there are some who claim it was felt near the Menora Tunnel on the North-South Expressway (PLUS Highway) and all the way to Kuala Kangsar, which is an entirely different district from where the tremor was mostly felt.
According to a Berita Harian report, the tremor was reported to have occured around 11am this morning, causing workers at Medan Istana to evacuate their offices.
One individual who works there, M Diviya, said everyone ran out of the office when they felt the tremor.
“I felt the building shake, and the glass doors seemed like they were about to shatter. At the same time, I heard a loud boom from the top of the building so we all ran out of the building fearing for our safety,” Diviya said in the report.
She added that she had contacted the Mineral and Geoscience Department to report this occurence.
Noor Zati Nabilah Ahmad, who works at a legal office there informed that she also ran out of her office building as soon as she felt the tremor.
“When I heard the loud sound, I immediately thought that it might be a bomb. After six years of working here, this is the first time I’ve experienced this,” she said.
Military exercise and quarry blasting operations are not the cause
Perak Police Chief Datuk Azizi Mat Aris said review results with the Northern Brigade of the General Operations Team or Pasukan Gerakan Am (PGA) revealed that there were no exercises involving explosives this morning.
A review with the Land and Minerals Office also showed no quarry blasting operations happening before 12pm today.
“Checks with the Malaysian Meteorology Department (MetMalaysia) found that Ipoh was not affected by any seismic ativity despite an earthquake event which happened at Halmahera, Indonesia at 11.24am this morning,” he said in a statement on Facebok.
Loud sound and tremor may have been caused by a sonic boom
Defense Security Analyst Zaki Salleh explained the explosive sound from an aircraft travelling at supersonic speeds could have also caused the loud bang and tremor.
However, he mentioned only aviation authorities or the military could confirm the source of the sound.
“A sonic boom produces high amounts of energy when an aircraft is travelling at supersonic speeds. The sound does not affect the aircraft as there is no explosion happening whilei it’s in the air,” he said in an Utusan Malaysia report.
Conspiracy theories on the tremor
While there’s no confirmation on the sound, there’s no lack of conspiracy theories and speculations on the internet. Here’s what we’ve heard so far:
It’s not the first time loud booms and tremors have happened in Ipoh and there seems to be a pattern
Some netizens have pointed out that it’s the third time in the past five years the boom and tremor has occured, and they all happen in October at 11am each time.
A media report in 2018 also highlighted that the sound was not connected to any quarry blasting operations.
Meanwhile, Harakah Daily speculates that the loud boom and tremor was caused by a meteor landing in Ipoh.
While there are many reasonable theories out there, there is still one that everyone has not considered: A Kaiju is awakening from under Gua Tempurung or one of the many limestone caves around Ipoh.
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