An earthquake in Morocco kills at least 1.037 people in the Marrakech region
A strong earthquake shook central Morocco on the night of Friday, September 8 to Saturday, September 9, causing at least 1.037 deaths, and 1.204 injured, according to the Interior Ministry's provisional balance sheet.
The National Center for Scientific and Technical Research (CNRST), based in Rabat, indicated that the earthquake had a magnitude of 7 on the Richter scale and that its epicenter was located in the province of Al-Haouz, southwest of the tourist city of Marrakech.
"According to a provisional balance, this earthquake caused the death of 1.037 people in the provinces and municipalities of Al-Haouz, Marrakech, Ouarzazate, Azilal, Chichaoua and Taroudant," the Ministry of Interior said in a statement. According to the same source, 1.204 people were injured and hospitalized.
According to Moroccan media, this is the most powerful earthquake to have hit the kingdom to date. The authorities "have mobilized all necessary means to intervene and come to the aid of the affected areas", adds the statement of the Ministry of the Interior.
According to images circulating on social networks and witnesses, the earthquake caused extensive damage in several cities. In a town in Al-Haouz province, a family was trapped in the rubble after their house collapsed, according to media reports.
A partially collapsed minaret in Djemaa El-Fna square
In addition to Marrakech, the tremor was felt in Rabat, Casablanca, Agadir and Essaouira, spreading panic among the population. Many people took to the streets of these cities, fearing that their houses would collapse, according to images posted on social networks.
In the photos and videos posted by Internet users, large sections of debris can be seen in the streets of the medina of Marrakech. But also cars crushed by the stones.
"I was in bed when everything started shaking. I thought my bed was going to fly out. I went out into the street half naked and went straight to my riads. It was total chaos, a real catastrophe, madness," Frenchman Michaël Bizet, 43, owner of three traditional houses in Marrakech's old town, tells Agence France-Presse (AFP) by telephone.
"At around 11 p.m., we felt a very violent tremor and I realized it was an earthquake. I could see the buildings move. We don't necessarily have the reflexes for this kind of situation. So I went outside, there were a lot of people outside. People were in shock and panic. Children were crying, parents were distraught," said Abdelhak El Amrani, a 33-year-old resident of Marrakech, in a telephone conversation with AFP.
According to images published on the Internet, part of a minaret collapsed in the famous Djemaa El-Fna square, the beating heart of Marrakech. Marrakech's regional blood transfusion center appealed to residents to go to its premises on Saturday to donate blood for the wounded.
Aftershocks felt in Algeria
"I was on my way home at the time of the earthquake. My car shook from side to side, but I had no idea for a second that it was an earthquake," said another resident of the city, Fayssal Badour, 58. "I stopped and realized the disaster. It was very serious, as if a river had burst its banks. The screams and cries were unbearable," he adds.
The earthquake was also felt in several western provinces of neighboring Algeria, but the Algerian civil defense declared that it had caused no damage or casualties.
On February 24, 2004, an earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale struck the province of Al Hoceima, 400 km northeast of Rabat, causing 628 deaths and extensive material damage. And on February 29, 1960, an earthquake destroyed Agadir, on the west coast of the country, killing more than 12,000 people, a third of the city's population.
