A rare, powerful earthquake late on Friday struck Morocco, killing more than 1,000 people and damaging buildings from villages in the Atlas Mountains to the historic city of Marrakesh.
At least 1,037 people died, mostly in Marrakesh and five provinces near the quake’s epicenter, and 1,204 people were injured, the Moroccan Ministry of the Interior reported yesterday morning.
Of the injured, 721 were seriously hurt, it said.
Photo courtesy of the National Fire Agency via CNA
The full toll was not known as rescuers struggled to get through boulder-strewn roads to the remote mountain villages hit hardest.
Rescuers worked through the night, searching for survivors in darkness, dust and rubble.
State television showed people clustered in the streets of Marrakesh, gathered outside buildings that might still be unstable. Many wrapped themselves in blankets as they tried to sleep outside.
Photo: AFP
The magnitude 6.8 earthquake was the hardest to hit Morocco in 120 years, and it toppled buildings and walls in ancient cities made from stone and masonry not designed to withstand quakes.
“The problem is that where destructive earthquakes are rare, buildings are simply not constructed robustly enough to cope with strong ground shaking, so many collapse, resulting in high casualties,” said Bill McGuire, professor emeritus of geophysical and climate hazards at University College London. “I would expect the final death toll to climb into the thousands once more is known. As with any big quake, aftershocks are likely, which will lead to further casualties and hinder search and rescue.”
In a sign of the huge scale of the disaster, Moroccan King Mohammed VI ordered the armed forces to mobilize air and land assets, specialized search and rescue teams and a surgical field hospital, a statement from the military said.
Despite an outpouring of offers of help from around the world, the Moroccan government had not formally asked for assistance, a step required before outside rescue crews could deploy.
In Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that no Taiwanese were harmed or otherwise affected by the quake to its knowledge.
Taiwanese traveling or living in Morocco are urged to stay vigilant and those who need assistance can call the Provence annex of the Taipei Representative Office in France at +33-413911920.
For emergencies, Taiwanese in Morroco should call +33-7611415 20 or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs emergency contact center in Taiwan at 0800-085-096, it added.
In Marrakesh, the famous Koutoubia Mosque, built in the 12th century, was damaged, but the extent was not immediately clear. Its 69m minaret is known as the “roof of Marrakesh.”
People also posted videos showing damage to parts of the famous red walls that surround the old city, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Most of the tiny village of Moulay Brahim, carved into a mountainside south of Marrakesh, was uninhabitable after walls crumbled, windows shattered and more than a dozen homes were reduced to piles of concrete and bent metal poles. At least five residents were trapped.
Ayoub Toudite said that he had been working out with friends at the gym when “we felt a huge shake like it was doomsday.”
In 10 seconds, he said, everything was gone.
“We found casualties and people running and kids crying,” he said. “We never saw anything like this, 20 deaths in the area, 30 injuries.”
Additional reporting by staff writer
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