Deputy works minister Ahmad Maslan said the report was the result of an inspection by the Segamat public works department (JKR) as of Sept 3 on buildings including Segamat Hospital, the Bandar Putra health clinic, Segamat Community College, schools and government quarters.

“Most of them are existing cracks that experienced an increase following the earthquake tremors. The damage had a minor impact and did not affect the integrity of the buildings’ structures.

“These buildings are still safe for use and do not pose a safety risk to users. Building users have also been reminded to monitor the surrounding conditions and report to JKR if there are any new findings,” he said in a press conference here today.

Ahmad said the repair work would be carried out with allocations from the ministries involved, with JKR providing technical support.

“The JKR disaster operations room was also activated to monitor the situation 24 hours a day after the first earthquake was reported on Aug 24.

“Segamat JKR is currently detailing the reports and repair work proposals, in addition to closely monitoring road and bridge assets,” he said.

He said no damage was reported to roads and bridges within the earthquake radius, and that seismic factors had been taken into account in the design of government buildings and bridges since the enforcement of the MS EN 1998 National Annex in September 2017.

“New buildings and bridges under the 12th Malaysia Plan were built using high-quality materials and designed according to the seismicity level of their respective locations,” he said.

He said the Segamat district office also received 62 reports of minor damage to private homes and two suraus following the tremors, although estimates of losses have yet to be finalised.