"It felt like a gigantic hand shaking my bed" - Sabah resident

Those were the words of Yusnilah Yunus, a housewife who is currently on holiday in her hometown of Membakut, some 68km from Kota Kinabalu.

The 36-year-old said she felt her house jolt around 7.15am today.

Speaking to Astro AWANI, she said items inside her family home turned upside down while trees within the house compound uprooted.

Yusnilah, who lives in Kuala Lumpur but returned to Membakut for the school holiday, said she only realised the tremor she felt was actually an earthquake about 30 seconds after it occurred.

Wanting to clarify the matter, she turned to updating her Facebook status and it was immediately confirmed by several acquaintances.

"The tremor was stronger than the one I experienced (here) in the 1990s. I was so scared," she said.

Yusnilah also received photos sent by her uncle. Most of the photos showed damages along the route from Ranau to Kota Kinabalu due to landslip.

"Fortunately, all my family members are safe. But we are still nervous and quite traumatised," she said.

Yusnilah added that her family did not suffer any injuries during the minute-long tremor.