More than 1,000 people have died after a powerful earthquake struck central Morocco, according to the country’s interior ministry
The quake – measuring magnitude 6.8 – sent people rushing into the streets in Marrakesh and other cities.
The quake which struck in Morocco’s High Atlas mountains late on Friday night damaged historic buildings in Marrakech – the nearest city to the epicentre – while the most of the fatalities were reported in mountainous areas to the south.
Many of the deaths were said to be in hard-to-reach mountain areas
The quake struck just after 23:00 local time, at a relatively shallow depth of 71km (44 miles) south-west of Marrakesh, according to the US Geological Survey
Dramatic video footage shows damaged buildings and rubble-strewn streets.
In Marrakech, where 13 people were confirmed dead, residents spent the night in the open, afraid to go home.
In the heart of its old city, a UNESCO World Heritage site, a mosque minaret had fallen in Jemaa al-Fna Square.
Injured people filtered into Marrakech from the surrounding areas seeking treatment.
State television footage from the Moulay Ibrahim area some 40 km (25 miles) south of Marrakech showed dozens of houses collapsed at the foothills of a mountain, and residents digging graves as groups of women stood in the street.
Montasir Itri, a resident of the village of Asni near the epicentre, said most houses there were damaged.
“Our neighbours are under the rubble and people are working hard to rescue them using available means in the village,” he said.
In Marrakech, where rubble had tumbled into the streets, residents described desperate scenes as people fled for safety.
“I still can’t sleep in the house because of the shock and also because the old town is made up of old houses,” said Jaouhari Mohamed, an old city resident.
Moroccan state television broadcast images of troops being deployed.
The quake was recorded at a depth of 18.5 km, typically more destructive than deeper quakes of the same magnitude. It was Morocco’s deadliest earthquake since 1960 when a quake was estimated to have killed at least 12,000 people, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Turkey, where powerful earthquakes in February killed more than 50,000 people, said it was ready to provide support.
Algeria, which broke off ties with Morocco in 2021 over the political status of Western Sahara, said it would open airspace for humanitarian and medical flights.
“The shallow earthquakes are normally more destructive,” said Mohammad Kashani, Associate Professor of Structural and Earthquake Engineering at the University of Southampton.
He compared scenes of the aftermath to images from Turkey in February: “The area is full of old and historical buildings, which are mainly masonry. The collapsed reinforced concrete structures that I saw … were either old or substandard.”
Governments around the world expressed solidarity and offered assistance.
Marrakech is due to host the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in early October.
