Kuala Lumpur, Feb. 23 -- A powerful 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck early on Monday in eastern Malaysia, according to the US Geological Survey.

The epicentre of the quake was located less than 100km north-east of Kota Kinabalu, the capital of its coastal Sabah state at a depth of 619.8km, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said. The quake struck at 12.57 am.

The head of MetMalaysia, Moh Hisham Mohd Anip, stated that the previous strongest earthquake, a 6.0 magnitude, in Malaysia hit the country on June 5, 2015, in Ranau in Sabah and claimed 18 lives, Bernama news agency reported.

The country's Met head was cited by Bernama as saying that the quake occurred off Sabah's coast because the State lies near the Pacific ring of fire, a seismical...