Inference to the Best Explanation

In Malaysia, Deputy Chief Minister Joseph Pairin Kitingan blamed the earthquake that jolted Mount Kinabalu June 5, 2015 on a group of European and North American tourists, because they “showed disrespect to the sacred mountain” by stripping down to pose naked on the morning of May 30, at the 8 km mark of the two-day trek up Mount Kinabalu, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Mount Kinabalu is the country’s highest mountain, and considered a sacred site by indigenous people who believe the Borneo landmark is where spirits reside after people die. Meanwhile rescuers recovered the bodies of 19 climbers from the 4,095-metre peak after it was struck, six days after the errant tourists’ visit, by a magnitude 5.9 quake that sent rocks and boulders raining down on trekking routes, trapping dozens of climbers.