According to the US Geological Survey, the earthquake occurred at 9.06pm, with the epicentre some 11km north-west of Ranau.
Witnesses said it lasted about three seconds, causing minor damage.
“It was weak at first, and then got stronger and then stopped,” one witness told FMT.
Several residents in Kota Kinabalu, Kota Marudu, Tuaran and Kudat said they too felt the tremors. Scores of mountain climbers at the Laban Rata base camp on Mount Kinabalu were also forced to stop their journey.
Sabah has experienced minor tremors since the 6.0 magnitude quake on June 5, 2015, which killed 18 people and injured 130 others.
The 2015 earthquake lasted about 30 seconds, stranding hundreds of mountain climbers from 16 countries on Mount Kinabalu.
An officer at the Ranau Fire and Rescue Department told FMT they had received no distress calls as of press time.
However, the climbers on Mount Kinabalu have been rounded up at an emergency assembly point for immediate evacuations in case of any further tremors.
“So far we have not received any emergency calls about any injury or destruction of property,” said Jimmy Lagung, the department’s head of station.
“But six of our Mosar (mountain search and rescue) team members are in the mountain right now helping gather all the climbers at the helipad at Laban Rata.
“I’m not sure how many climbers are there right now but we are in midst of gathering this information.”
Laban Rata is located at 3,272 metres above sea level where climbers have an overnight rest before resuming their climb before dawn the next day.
A Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) student posted an update on earthquake-report.com saying he was on the 6th floor of the Sri Angkasa residential college when the chair he was sitting on “suddenly moved up and down, side to side”.
Another person, in Ranau, also gave an update on the earthquake tracking website, saying: “It kinda felt like 3 seconds, (it) reminded me about the earthquake we had in 2015 but (it was) much weaker, but still (it) made my heart pound.
“A marble statue fell from a shelf in my room but that aside, there’s no damage to my house, thankfully. Overall, it’s an interesting but nerve-wracking experience.”
Someone in Kundasang gave a more unnerving account, saying: “(There were) shaking and loud sounds of tremors.”
A housewife, who requested anonymity, told FMT she felt the tremor on the second floor of her apartment building, which swayed for about three seconds in Papar district, about 30km south of here.