2023-09-09 16:00:39
At least 1,037 people died from a powerful 6.8 magnitude earthquake that shook Morocco on Friday night, spreading panic in the tourist city of Marrakech, near the epicenter, according to a new official report released this Saturday. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) reported that the earthquake was of magnitude 6.8 and occurred at a depth of 18.5 kilometers, with the epicenter 71 kilometers southwest of Marrakech at 11:11 p.m. local time (10:11 p.m. GMT). .
The Moroccan National Center for Scientific and Technical Research (CNRST) indicated a magnitude of 7.
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The earthquake left at least 1,037 dead and 1,204 injured, “of which 721 are in critical condition,” the Ministry of the Interior said in a statement.
A woman reacts in front of her house damaged by the earthquake in the old city of Marrakech, in Morocco, on September 9, 2023. (Photo by FADEL SENNA / AFP). People walk through the rubble of a building damaged after an earthquake in Marrakech, Morocco, on September 9, 2023. (EFE/EPA/JALAL MORCHIDI).
In the previous balance, of 820 deaths, the majority of deaths (394) had been registered in Al Hauz, the epicenter province of the earthquake, and in Tarundant (271), further south.
Dug tombs
In the town of Moulay Brahim, in Al Haouz, rescue teams worked this Saturday in search of survivors in the rubble.
Residents remain in a square after an earthquake in Marrakech, Morocco, on September 9, 2023. (Photo by Fadel SENNA / AFP).
For its part, the Moroccan army deployed “important human and logistical means, air and land,” such as search and rescue teams and a field hospital in Al Haouz, reported the state news agency MAP.
In Marrakech, visibly stunned Moroccans inspected the damage to their homes amidst piles of rubble, dust and cars crushed by stones.
The shock was felt as far as the capital Rabat, hundreds of kilometers away, and in coastal cities such as Casablanca or Essaouira, even in the neighboring country of Algeria, where authorities ruled out damage or victims.
The epicenter of the earthquake. (AFP).
The Algerian presidency announced on Saturday afternoon the opening of its airspace, closed with Morocco for two years, for planes carrying humanitarian aid for earthquake victims.
Moroccan media reported that it is the most powerful earthquake recorded in this kingdom in North Africa.
“We panicked”
Videos recorded in Marrakech show residents leaving buildings in terror amid the shaking, debris falling from buildings into narrow alleys and vehicles covered in stones.
One of them shows a minaret of a mosque that collapsed in the famous Jemaa el Fna square, the heart of Marrakech, causing injuries to two people.
“We are safe and sound, but still in shock,” added this city resident, who lost ten relatives in Ijoukak, a rural village in Al Haouz.
People seek safety in the street after an earthquake in Rabat, Morocco, on September 8, 2023. (EFE/EPA/Jalal Morchidi).
Mimi Theobald, a 25-year-old English tourist, was with some friends about to eat dessert on the terrace of a restaurant “when the tables started to shake, the plates to fly. “We panicked.”
“Screams and cries”
Fayssal Badour, 58, was driving home when he noticed the tremor. “I stopped and realized the catastrophe. It was very serious (…) The screams and cries were unbearable,” he said.
Frenchman Michael Bizet, who owns three tourist establishments in traditional houses (riads) in the old city of Marrakech, said that the shaking woke him up during his sleep.
“I went out into the street half naked and went to see the riads. “It was total chaos, a real, crazy catastrophe,” he explained.
People search through the rubble of a damaged building with the help of an excavator after an earthquake in Marrakech, Morocco, on September 9, 2023. (EFE/EPA/JALAL MORCHIDI).
Pope Francis expressed “his deep solidarity for the victims” in a message sent by the Vatican Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin.
The King of Spain, Felipe VI, said he was “desolate to receive the news of the violent earthquake (…) that has caused a very high number of fatalities.”
Several countries, including Spain, the United Kingdom, Italy, Israel and the United States, offered support to Morocco for the rescue efforts.
France, which has a large population of Moroccan origin, expressed its “solidarity” and its president, Emmanuel Macron, said he was “shocked.”
The presidents of Russia, Vladimir Putin; from Ukraine, Volodomir Zelensky; from Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and from China, Xi Jinping also expressed their condolences and solidarity. The African Union expressed its “great sorrow” over the tragedy.
From the G20 summit in New Delhi, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was “extremely saddened by the loss of life.”
The Alawite kingdom experiences frequent earthquakes in its northern region because it is between the African and Eurasian plates.
In 2004, at least 628 people were killed and 926 injured when an earthquake hit Al Hoceima, in the northeast of the country.
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