Unfortunately the toll is rising. According to local media, at least thirty people were killed in the strong earthquake that struck Morocco on Friday night. The quake, measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale, struck at 11:11 p.m. 80 km southwest of Marrakech, the American Institute of Geophysics (USGS) reported.
Twenty-seven people died in the tourist region of Marrakesh, 320 km south of the capital Rabat, and four others in Ouarzazate province further south, media said, citing local sources in both regions. Authorities have not provided an official report.
The Rabat-based National Center for Scientific and Technical Research (CNRST) said the earthquake had a magnitude of 7 degrees on the Richter scale and that its epicenter was in Al-Haouz province. According to Moroccan media, this is the strongest earthquake to hit the kingdom to date.
Partially collapsed buildings
In a town in Al-Haouz province, the epicenter of the earthquake, a family was trapped in the rubble after their house collapsed, according to media reports. Citing medical sources, the information site Médias24 reported a “massive influx” of injured people to hospitals in Marrakech.
The earthquake caused damage in Marrakesh and Agadir, with buildings partially collapsing, according to videos shared on social media.
Shock and panic
“Around 11 p.m. we felt a very strong shock, I realized it was an earthquake. I saw buildings moving. We don’t necessarily have the necessary reflexes in such situations. Then I went outside, there were a lot of people outside. The people were all shocked and panicked. The children were crying, the parents were distraught,” Marrakech resident Abdelhak El Amrani, 33, told AFP by telephone.
“The power went out for 10 minutes, as did the (telephone) network, but it was restored. Everyone decided to stay outside,” he added. In the famous Djemaa el-Fna square, the beating heart of Marrakech, part of a minaret collapsed, injuring two people, images broadcast on channels show.
Our journalist Mathilde Ceilles, who was present in Agadir, 130 km from the epicenter, had “never felt such a shock” that “turned off the lights for a moment”. At 1 a.m. no one was sleeping for fear of an aftershock, even though the 1960 magnitude 5.7 earthquake had killed nearly 12,000 people.