THE 2015 earthquake in Sabah, which registered 5.9 on the Richter scale, had shocked the nation and left a mark on the iconic Mount Kinabalu in the highland district of Ranau.
With its epicentre 16km northwest of Ranau, the quake caused a massive impact as 187 climbers from many countries were ascending to and descending from the peak when it struck at 7.15am on June 5, 2015.
Five years have passed, but the incident is still very much fresh among Sabahans, especially for those who were climbing the mountain on that fateful day.
Mountain guide Saffrey Sumping, 37, was with three climbers from the Philippines when the ground suddenly swayed, causing panic and confusion.
He said the weather on that particular morning and the previous night was fine.
"There was no sign of any minor tremor, but we could never have known what was about to happen.
"In my 16 years as a mountain guide, I have never experienced such a powerful quake on the mountain."
He recalled scaling up to the summit from the Panalaban base camp at 2.30am and reaching the peak at 5.45am. His three climbers spent quite a long time watching the sunrise and taking photos.
They stayed for almost an hour at the peak before they returned to the base camp, He said everything was normal until they arrived at the 8.2KM mark.
"There was a strong tremor and I immediately told my climbers to sit. I thought there was a huge object falling, but then I heard the sounds of falling rocks. I was in a state of confusion for a second when it hit me that we had just experienced an earthquake.
"The tremor lasted for a few seconds and all climbers hurriedly made their way down for safety. I remember meeting a park ranger at the 7.3KM mark and he told us to go up to a safer ground at the 7.5KM point," he said.
It was at this point that Saffrey saw some climbers starting to cry, while others were praying.
He said some climbers were checking for updates on their phones to find out what was happening.
Out of the 187 climbers on the mountain that day, 137 of them were stranded after some existing trails and ropes were damaged and blocked by boulders due to massive rockslides.
Several agencies later mounted a search and rescue operation for the stranded climbers. They used helicopters for this effort, but the agencies needed to take into account the fitness level of rescue personnel as they had to conduct the operation at high altitudes.
At the same time, a group of mountain guides strategised a plan to conduct rescues using their immeasurable experiences on the peak.
Guides such as Saffrey and other park rangers inspected damaged trails and looked for alternative safe routes to faciliate rescue efforts. They managed to repair the damaged ropes at steep areas.
After clearing the pathways, they gathered all the climbers and led them to the Panalaban base camp about 3pm.
"I was the 'sweeper' who made sure no one was left behind. We saw dead bodies along the way, but we just continued descending. There were several subsequent tremors and each time it happened, we stopped.
"The last climbers reached the base camp at 7pm and we grabbed a fast meal before descending to Timpohon Gate (climbing starting point)," said Saffrey.
At the 6.7KM point, other mountain guides who had arrived from Timpohon Gate helped to carry fatigued climbers down.
Saffrey returned to the mountain for the following four days to help in search efforts.
He carried dead bodies of fellow mountain guides as well as other deceased climbers.
Following the incident, Mount Kinabalu, which is the highest mountain in Southeast Asia, was temporarily closed for assessment and to make way for construction of new routes.
The earthquake changed the mountain's landscape as one of the peaks called the Donkey's Ears was broken off. Rest house and hostel structures on the mountain were also damaged by large boulders.
To improve emergency responses, the Fire and Rescue Department absorbed mountain guides as Mountain Guide Search and Rescue (Mosar) personnel as part of the changes made following the tragedy.
Eighteen people were killed in the earthquake, including four local mountain guides. The fatalities also involved two other Malaysians; 10 Singaporeans, seven of whom were schoolchildren; a Japanese national; and a Chinese national.
The Singaporean children were on a field trip and they were on the via-ferrata, or pathway with rungs, rails, cables and bridges on rock faces, when the earthquake struck.
The tremors were felt not only across Sabah, but as far away as Labuan, Brunei and Sarawak too.
When asked if he ever got tired whenever someone asked him about the 2015 Ranau earthquake, Saffrey said it has never been so.
He said it was an experience that needed to be told as he wanted to honour the strength, cooperation and confidence of climbers towards their rescue effort.