At around noon, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak tweeted about the earthquake in Sabah and expressed his concern.

"I was just informed that an earthquake happened not far from Ranau. I hope all are safe and calm," he said.

Some netizens criticised Najib over his late tweet, given that the earthquake happened shortly after 7am.

"You were just informed? Adui," tweeted @DragoNero, who added that it reflected on the prime minister's character.

There were also those who asked Najib if he had skipped the 'Nothing to Hide' dialogue session because of the earthquake.

Similarly, other Twitter users also mocked the prime minister for being absent at the session, which saw the attendance of Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

The official reason cited is because Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar advised Najib not to attend due to security reasons.  

Below are some of the tweets:

@Azmi_MohdNor: Debat tadi awat takp? Kita tunggu lama kot. 3 gelaih starbaq kita minum. Tgu takmai pun. Depa p sana ka td? (You didn't go for the debate? We waited for a long time. Drank three glasses of Starbucks. We waited but you never showed up. Did you go there?)

@ahlang888: power najib. Pahlawan sejati (Great warrior). Nak berdepan dgn madey pun takut (Afraid to face Mahathir). Apa pelik. Too many things to hide?

@radins: The gempa bumi was at PWTC, lah #Nothing2Hide (The earthquake was at PWTC)

@sidang_GIB: Near to home juga gegar kecil. @KBAB51 dah urus tiada kehilangan. Gegaran berpunca Sukaguam yg otak kenit, hajat besar! (There were minor tremors close to home, police chief has sorted it out, no losses. Tremors were caused by Sukaguam, pea-brained but has big plans.)