PKR today said the earthquake which struck Sabah on June 5 has highlighted the fault lines in East Malaysia, and warned the construction of dams on these fault lines may potentially trigger further earthquakes.

Specifically, PKR environment bureau chief Lee Chean Chung said the Sarawak government's planned Baram dam, less than 300km away from Sabah, sits near two fault zones.

Lee, who is also Semambu state assemblyperson, used the example of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake in China that left more than 80,000 people dead or missing, which scientists now believe was triggered by pressure from the nearby Zipingpu dam.

"As Zipingpu dam began to impound more water, this caused additional weight and pressure to the crust.

"The extra weight and pressure might have accelerated the occurrence of an earthquake by a hundred years," he said in a statement today.

The Zipingu dam's role in the deadly Sichuan quake was raised by both US and Chinese scientists some nine months after the incident.

The New York Times reported a Columbia University scientist who studied the quake saying it may have been triggered by the weight of 320 million tons of water in the Zipingpu reservoir less than a mile from a well-known major fault.

The report said the conclusions, presented to the American Geophysical Union, coincided with the findings of Chinese geophysicists that the dam caused significant seismic changes before the earthquake.

"Therefore, I am calling Sarawak Chief Minister Adenan Satem to not neglect the potential threats of earthquakes and continue with the construction of dam at the expense of the lives of the Baram people living in Sarawak," said Lee.

Basic principle to keep distance

Lee's call comes after former Sabah Minerals and Geoscience Department director Alexander Yan this week urged the Sarawak government to study the two faultlines before proceeding with the Baram dam construction.

He said this is to determine whether the fault lines are active and if they can generate earthquakes.

“If the fault lines are active, don’t build the dam. Active faults are capable of major tremors.

“The fundamental is, hydropower stations should not be built on earthquake generating fault lines," Borneo Post quoted him saying on June 10.

The 5.9-magnitude earthquake in Ranau, Sabah on June 5 claimed 18 lives and triggered a series of aftershocks for a week in neighbouring regions.

The  state was struck by another earthquake early this morning, measuring 5.1-magnitude, 25km away from Kota Belud.