PETALING JAYA (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Ranau, Sabah and its surrounding areas were hit by three more minor earthquakes on Tuesday evening, bringing the total to four in a single day.

The Malaysian Meteorology Department said an earthquake measuring 4.3 on the Richter scale was recorded at 5.33pm on Tuesday near Ranau.

"A weak earthquake has occurred at 5.33pm with a magnitude 4.3 and depth 10km at Ranau, Sabah, 19km Northwest of Ranau. Tremors were felt in Kota Kinabalu, Kota Belud, Ranau & Kundasang," said the Department in a brief statement on its Facebook page.

These were followed by two more tremors with magnitudes of 2.6 and 3.0 at 6.26pm and 6.39pm respectively.

Geologist Felix Tongkul said more such tremors would occur as the mountain continues to stabilise.

He said the mountain was also causing slips in nearby fault lines that are triggering the tremors.

Prof Tongkul said it was likely that the mountain had reactivated dormant faultlines, and advised the public to expect more tremors.

The three tremors follows an incident Tuesday morning where 500 students at a secondary school in Ranau escaped unscathed when the ceiling of the school's library collapsed following a weak magnitude 3.5 earthquake.

The centre was empty when the ceiling came crashing down at about 11am at the SMK Agama Mohd Ali.