A powerful 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck Morocco Friday night, killing more than 1000 people and damaging buildings in the historic city of Marrakech in what the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said was the strongest tremor to hit that part of the North African nation in more than a century.
The quake struck in Morocco’s High Atlas mountain range shortly after 11 p.m. local time at the relatively shallow depth of 18.5 kilometers (11.4 miles), USGS said, with the epicenter located about 72 kilometers (44.7 miles) southwest of Marrakech, a city of some 840,000 people and a popular tourist destination.
We felt a very violent tremor, and I realised it was an earthquake,” Abdelhak El Amrani, a 33-year-old in Marrakesh, told AFP by telephone.
“I could see buildings moving. We don’t necessarily have the reflexes for this type of situation. Then I went outside and there were a lot of people there. People were all in shock and panic. The children were crying and the parents were distraught.”
“The power went out for 10 minutes, and so did the (telephone) network, but then it came back on,” he added. “Everyone decided to stay outside.”
Updated interior ministry figures on Saturday showed the quake killed 632 people, more than half of them in Al-Haouz and Taroudant provinces. The ministry also recorded deaths in Ouarzazate, Chichaoua, Azilal and Youssoufia provinces, as well as in Marrakesh, Agadir, and the Casablanca area.
Another 329 people were injured, including 51 in a critical condition, the ministry said.
The epicentre was said to be in the Ighil area, about 40 miles (70km) south of Marrakech.
The tremor had an initial 6.8 magnitude when it hit at 11.11pm local time, with shaking that lasted several seconds. Morocco’s National Seismic Monitoring and Alert Network, however, said the earthqauke struck at a magnitude of 7.2.
Videos have emerged of several buildings being reduced to rubble and have left parts of the famous red walls in Marrakech damaged.
Some buildings in Marrakech’s Old City, a Unesco World Heritage site, with photos of smashed cars and rubble emerging.
The National Seismic Monitoring and Alert Network in Morocco has noted that High Atlas mountains are the epicentre of quakes in the country.
In 1960, an earthquake in the country had led to the deaths of thousands of people.