In his tweet, Masidi said: “Acting on the advice of the director of Sabah Parks and in the interest of safety, I have ordered a temporary suspension of all climbing activities at Mount Kinabalu.
“All climbers and mountain guides must return to the Sabah Parks headquarters immediately.”
The earthquake struck the north-west of Sabah this evening, three years after the Ranau earthquake which killed and injured scores of people.
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.
In a voice recording that went viral, a man believed to be a staff at the Laban Rata resthouse, said there were about 130 climbers at the resthouse.
He said as he spoke in the recording, rocks were still falling down the mountain caused by the quake.
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.