At least 296 people died due to massive earthquake in Morocco, historical buildings damaged in Marrakesh

A massive earthquake struck Morocco on Friday night, killing at least 296 people and damaging buildings ranging from the historic city of Marrakesh to villages in the Atlas Mountains. The country’s Home Ministry said early Saturday that at least 296 people have died due to the earthquake and 153 injured have been admitted to hospital. The ministry said most of the damage occurred outside cities and towns. The head of Talat N’Yacoub town, Abderrahman Ait Daud, told Moroccan news site 2M that several houses in towns in the Al Houz region had partially or completely collapsed, with power outages in some places and road blockades. Roads were blocked. Ait Daoud said authorities were clearing roads in the province to allow ambulances to pass through and provide aid to the affected population.

He added that due to the extreme distance between the villages on the mountain, it would take time to assess the damage. Moroccans have shared several videos on social media, in which buildings have been reduced to rubble and dust can be seen all around. Parts of the famous red walls surrounding the historic city of Marrakesh in Morocco have been damaged. Marrakesh is included in the list of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) World Heritage Sites. The US Geological Survey (USGS) reported that the earthquake, which occurred at 11:11 pm, had an initial magnitude of 6.8 and aftershocks continued for several seconds. Morocco’s national seismic monitoring and warning network measured the earthquake at magnitude 7 on the Richter scale.

The US agency reported an aftershock of magnitude 4.9 19 minutes later. The USGS reported that the epicenter was at a depth of 18 kilometers from the Earth’s surface, while according to the Moroccan agency, its epicenter was at a depth of eight kilometers. The epicenter of Friday’s earthquake was on the top of the Atlas Mountains, about 70 km south of Marrakesh. Earthquakes occur relatively rarely in North Africa. Lahkan Mhanni, head of the seismic monitoring and warning department at the National Institute of Geophysics, told 2M TV that the quake was “unprecedented”. He said, “Earthquakes of this intensity usually do not occur in mountainous areas. This is the most powerful earthquake ever to hit the region.” A magnitude 5.8 earthquake occurred in 1960 near the Moroccan city of Agadir, killing thousands. Building regulations in Morocco were changed after the earthquake, but many buildings, especially houses in villages, are not earthquake resistant.According to the ‘Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere’ and the Civil Protection Agency of Algeria, the tremors were felt as far as Portugal and Algeria.

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