Late on Friday night, Morocco was hit by a strong, uncommon earthquake that caused hundreds of fatalities and extensive building damage from the historic city of Marrakech to remote Atlas Mountain towns.
Fearing aftershocks, men, women, and kids stayed outside in the streets.
Early on Saturday, the Moroccan Interior Ministry announced that there had been at least 296 fatalities in the earthquake-affected areas. 153 injured people were also taken to hospitals for medical attention. According to the ministry, damage mostly happened in rural areas.
Abderrahim Ait Daoud, the mayor of Talat N’Yaaqoub, reported that some homes in towns in the Al Haouz region had partially or completely fallen and that roads and electricity had been cut off in several areas.
He claimed that while officials are attempting to clear provincial roads so that ambulances and aid could reach the affected communities, it will take some time to determine the full extent of the devastation due to the distances between mountain villages.
Videos showed destroyed buildings and damaged portions of the renowned red walls that enclose Marrakech’s old city—a UNESCO World Heritage site—were shared online by Moroccans. Videos of screams and restaurant evacuations in the city were broadcast online by tourists and other individuals as pulsing party music played.
The U.S. Geological Survey reported that the earthquake, which struck at 11:11 p.m. (2211 GMT) and caused shaking that lasted several seconds, had a preliminary magnitude of 6.8. A magnitude-4.9 aftershock was recorded 19 minutes later, according to the American agency.
AP News