A rare and devastating earthquake rocked Morocco late on Friday night, resulting in a tragic loss of life and extensive structural damage. The seismic event, which occurred from villages in the Atlas Mountains to the historic city of Marrakech, left a trail of destruction in its wake.
The Moroccan Interior Ministry, in its initial report on Saturday, confirmed the grim toll, with at least 296 fatalities in the provinces adjacent to the earthquake’s epicenter. An additional 153 individuals sustained injuries and were promptly transported to hospitals for medical attention. Notably, the ministry emphasized that the majority of the destruction was concentrated in rural areas, sparing urban centers.
Moroccan television broadcasts captured the somber aftermath, with many residents choosing to remain outdoors out of fear of potential aftershocks.
Amidst the chaos and devastation wrought by the recent earthquake, anxious families found themselves taking refuge in the streets, some clutching their children, blankets, or cherished possessions. The scenes were heart-wrenching, with emergency responders navigating treacherous terrain, maneuvering through the debris of collapsed walls. A poignant moment captured the plight of a car nearly swallowed by the rubble of a once-standing building.
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Among the remnants of shattered structures, baskets, buckets, and articles of clothing lay scattered, poignant reminders of lives disrupted.
In the immediate aftermath of the quake, haunting images circulated online, depicting panicked individuals fleeing in terror near the venerable 12th-century Koutoubia Mosque in Marrakech, an iconic symbol of the city. Reports from Moroccan media suggested that the mosque had sustained damage, though the full extent remained shrouded in uncertainty. The 69-meter (226-foot) minaret, famously known as the “roof of Marrakech,” stood as a symbol of resilience.
Videos shared by Moroccans also unveiled the distressing sight of sections of the renowned red walls encircling the old city of Marrakech, a UNESCO World Heritage site, bearing the scars of the seismic event.
In a conversation with Moroccan news site 2M, the leader of a town near the earthquake’s epicenter revealed the grim reality: several homes in nearby towns had either partially or completely crumbled, while power outages and road blockages compounded the crisis in certain areas.
Abderrahim Ait Daoud, at the helm of Talat N’Yaaqoub, emphasized the ongoing efforts to clear the obstructed roads in Al Haouz Province, essential for ambulances and aid to reach the affected populations. Nevertheless, the vast distances separating mountain villages meant that ascertaining the full extent of the damage would be a protracted endeavor.
Local media outlets relayed the daunting challenge of rescue teams navigating jammed roads leading to the mountainous region around the epicenter, confronting blocked passages obstructed by fallen rocks, further hindering their critical mission.
The seismic event that struck on Friday evening garnered significant attention from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Initially registering at a magnitude of 6.8, the earthquake struck precisely at 11:11 p.m. (2211 GMT), unleashing several seconds of intense shaking. The USGS subsequently recorded a magnitude-4.9 aftershock just 19 minutes later.
The epicenter of this seismic upheaval was located near the town of Ighil in Al Haouz Province, approximately 70 kilometers (43.5 miles) to the south of Marrakech.
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The depth of the epicenter raised concern, with the USGS reporting it at 18 kilometers (11 miles) beneath the Earth’s surface, while Morocco‘s own seismic agency estimated it to be at a shallower depth of 8 kilometers (5 miles). Regardless of the exact measurement, shallow earthquakes are known to pose heightened risks due to their proximity to the surface.
North Africa seldom experiences earthquakes, and Lahcen Mhanni, Head of the Seismic Monitoring and Warning Department at the National Institute of Geophysics, highlighted the unprecedented magnitude of this event in the mountainous region, labeling it the strongest ever recorded.
The seismic history of the region underscores the severity of such events. In 1960, a magnitude 5.8 tremor struck near the Moroccan city of Agadir, resulting in a catastrophic loss of life. While this tragedy led to changes in construction regulations in Morocco, many buildings, particularly rural dwellings, still lack the necessary resilience to withstand such tremors.
A similarly devastating earthquake with a magnitude of 6.4 struck in 2004, near the Mediterranean coastal city of Al Hoceima, claiming over 600 lives.
The impact of Friday’s earthquake extended far beyond Morocco’s borders, with reports of its tremors being felt as distant as Portugal and Algeria. Both the Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere and Algeria’s Civil Defense agency attested to the quake’s reach, underlining its regional significance.