Malaysian officials have blamed ten Western tourists who stripped on one of the country's most sacred mountains for causing an earthquake that killed more than 16 people.

A police report appears to have been filed against five of the tourists.

Tan Sri Joseph Pairin, the deputy chief minister of Sabah state, has said that he believes the earthquake was caused by the tourists.

Members of the indigenous community in Sabah on the island of Borneo also blame the tourists for causing the earthquake, saying that their antics angered the spirit of the mountain.

The earthquake, a 5.9-magnitude tremor that occurred near Mount Kinabalu, came more than a week after the tourists photographed themselves standing naked on the mountain.

The group of foreigners, which includes two Canadians, two Dutch and a German national, broke away from a larger party of tourists to take the photographs, which later appeared on social media.

The Straits Times reported that a local tribal priest, known as the Bobolian, was demanding the tourists be fined 10 head of buffalo to appease the spirit of the mountain.

"The tourists who angered the guardian of the mountain should pay for their mistakes by giving sogit," the paper quoted Tindarama Aman Sirom Simbuna as saying, referring to what is typically an animal sacrifice to 'cool' restless spirits...

“It is a sacred mountain and you cannot take it lightly,” Joseph Pairin Kitingan, the deputy chief minister of Sabah, was quoted as saying.

Reuters in Kuala Lumpur
Authorities in Malaysia have arrested a foreign national for allegedly posing naked for pictures on the country’s highest peak, Mount Kinabalu, an act some Malaysians have said angered the spirits of the mountain and caused an earthquake.

Police in the eastern state of Sabah arrested a foreign woman involved in the incident, state news agency Bernama reported. Her nationality was not disclosed.

Acting police chief Keong Ho Eng said the woman was held at the airport in the town of Tawau on Tuesday afternoon, as she was about to leave for Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital.

A group of tourists stripped to take pictures at the peak of Mount Kinabalu on 30 May, infuriating many who regarded the act as disrespectful. The images were widely circulated on websites and social media.

It was not clear whether the tourists would be charged with any offence. Malaysian police and immigration officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

News reports said those involved in the incident had been barred from leaving Sabah, to allow police to investigate. Some reports said two Canadians in the group were stopped from leaving the country.

On Tuesday, the Canadian high commission in Kuala Lumpur said it was aware of the media reports. A spokesman said it was in touch with the Sabah authorities and consular assistance was being provided.

At least 16 climbers died after a 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck the area on Friday, with another two missing. Among the dead were six Malaysians, seven Singaporeans, and one each from China, Japan and the Philippines.

As the photographs of thetourists emerged, some Malaysians on social media –and government officials – began linking the stripping on Mount Kinabalu to the earthquake.

“It is a sacred mountain and you cannot take it lightly,” Joseph Pairin Kitingan, the deputy chief minister of Sabah, was quoted as saying.

Police in Malaysia have arrested a British woman and three other western tourists after they posed naked on top of the country’s highest mountain in a stunt that some indigenous people believe may have caused a deadly earthquake days later.

The four – a Dutch tourist, two Canadian siblings and the British woman – later appeared in court handcuffed and in purple prison uniforms...

Malaysian authorities arrested a third Canadian in connection with the stunt on Wednesday. Emil Kaminski, a 33-year-old adventure travel blogger, allegedly led the group up the mountain.

Described by the New Straits Times as a “notorious Canadian nudist”, he is said to be facing charges of indecent exposure, as well as further charges of insulting local culture and people through social media postings.

Kaminski was the original source of one of the photos circulating online showing the group of 10 naked on the mountain, it has been widely reported.

"Did the earth move for you too?"

Things got less funny when commenters began posting Kaminski’s personal contact information. Then they get really serious when someone posted the name of his hotel in Malaysia and his flight information.

“I put [the photo] up and I included three photos of myself on mountaintops and, of course, all f—— hell broke loose,” he said. “I was not insulting Malaysia. I was not making any references to the people that died up there. I was simply insulting that Masidi Manjun guy… because to say something that f—— stupid, you really need to have lobotomized yourself on a piece of heavy machinery. I mean, how the f— do you get to be in a government if you don’t know anything about plate tectonics, about geology, and about seismology.”

“I received thousands of pieces of hate mail, death threats, poorly spelled death threats,” Kaminski said on camera. “Everybody made it about this massive disrespect of Malaysia. Jesus Christ, people. It’s just a f—— mountain.”

Kaminski did not respond to repeated requests for comment. Neither did the two friends he identified in his Facebook photo.