Morocco has set up a major relief operation in response to the terrible earthquake that struck the country
Morocco suffered a strong earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale that struck several areas in the early hours of Friday morning and has so far left 1,037 dead and more than 1,200 injured, 721 of whom are seriously injured.
Most of the fatalities were recorded in the province of Al-Haouz, a rural area close to the epicentre near Marrakech, with a death toll of 542. In the province of Taroudant there were also around 321 deaths, followed by the province of Chichaoua with 103, the province of Ouarzazate with 38, the prefecture of Marrakech with 13, the province of Azilal with 11, the prefecture of Agadir with 5 and Casablanca with 3 deaths, with one death also recorded in the province of El Youssoufia.
Faced with this tragedy, the King of Morocco, Mohammed VI, made a public pronouncement and gave instructions for the Royal Armed Forces to immediately deploy significant human, logistical, air and land resources to help all those affected, as reported by the official Moroccan news agency MAP.
The Alaouite monarch, who is also supreme commander and head of the General Staff of the Royal Armed Forces, ordered the deployment of these assistance and emergency services during the night, as well as specialised intervention modules made up of search and rescue teams and a medical-surgical field hospital.
The necessary arrangements have been made at the level of the General Staff of the Royal Armed Forces and the Kingdom's Armed Forces, in terms of liaison and coordination with the local authorities, as indicated in an official communiqué from the General Staff of the Royal Armed Forces.
Intervention detachments, aircraft, helicopters, drones and engineering assets, as well as logistics units, were also deployed in the affected areas to provide the necessary support to the various civilian and emergency departments and to the populations affected by the severe earthquake.
The relief operation began the night after the quake, which measured 7.0 on the Richter scale and was felt in several cities in the Moroccan kingdom.
At the Civil Protection warehouse in El Aryat (Salé), seven truckloads of blankets, camp beds and lighting material were mobilised to bring aid to the populations of the affected areas as quickly as possible, as reported by the MAP agency.
🚨🆘️À #agadir, le #séisme a causé plusieurs pertes matérielles pic.twitter.com/8do8ZvyrcA
— L'Opinion (@LOpinion_Ma) September 8, 2023
Since the early hours of Saturday, a team of firefighters has been loading semi-trailers to help those affected by the earthquake.
In addition to the Civil Protection of El Aryat, other Civil Protection teams from various regions of the Kingdom are working to provide aid and assistance to the victims.
Spanish and Algerian reaction
The King of Spain, Felipe VI, sent a telegram to King Mohammed VI on Saturday expressing the "deepest feelings of grief" of the Spanish people for the "violent" earthquake and showing their sorrow for the tragedy.
Felipe VI addressed Mohammed VI in fraternal terms such as "majesty" and "dear brother", giving his full support. "I am devastated to receive the news of the violent earthquake that has affected the town of Ighil and the southwest of your country, which has caused a very high number of deaths and injuries, and I wish to convey to you, on my behalf, on behalf of the government and on behalf of the Spanish people, our deepest feelings of sorrow for the terrible consequences of this disaster, as well as our heartfelt condolences," said the Spanish monarch, who wished the best for the future of the Moroccan people.
Mensaje de Su Majestad el Rey a Su Majestad el Rey de Marruecos. pic.twitter.com/qwMtzpZgVg
— Casa de S.M. el Rey (@CasaReal) September 9, 2023
The Spanish government offered its condolences to the neighbouring country, with which it currently enjoys very good diplomatic relations. In addition, the government led by Pedro Sánchez also offered all kinds of help to assist the North African country in whatever it needs.
For his part, the leader of the Spanish political opposition, Alberto Núñez-Feijóo, president of the PP, also expressed his sorrow and support for the tragedy suffered by Morocco. "After the earthquake in Morocco, all my support and solidarity with our neighbouring country, my condolences to the families of the deceased and my wishes for the recovery of the injured," the PP leader said on social networks.
الصبر اخواني
— Anas Sh (@anass004e) September 9, 2023
فرق الانقاذ الأرضية تقوم بفتح الطرقات المغلقة للمناطق المتضررة بشكل كبير من الزلزال , طواقم المروحيات يعملون على تحديد المواقع بدقة و العمل على فتح مهابط مؤقتة سيتم استخدام الطائرات المسيرة لطواقم الانقاذ التابعة للجيش كذالك pic.twitter.com/ltjsdwwsgK
Meanwhile, the Moroccan embassy provided emergency consular telephone numbers for Spaniards to call after the earthquake, which has so far left 1,037 dead and more than 1,200 injured.
Through its account on the social network X (formerly Twitter), the Moroccan Embassy said that Spaniards who need information about the earthquake can contact the consular emergency telephone numbers.
Specifically, the consular emergency telephone number of the Consulate General of Casablanca (in whose demarcation is the city and region of Marrakech where the epicentre of the earthquake is located) is +212660488848. The Consulate General has also set up an additional emergency telephone number: +212665807977.
The consular emergency telephone numbers of the other Consulates General in Morocco are: +212660915647 (Rabat), +212661080470 (Agadir), +212666794559 (Larache), +212661202135 (Tangier), +212661705430 (Tetouan) and +212661764005 (Nador).
On the other hand, the Consular Emergency Division has set up the telephone number 910001249 to attend to "all those who require assistance or who are in need" after the earthquake, as reported on the social network X by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, EU and Cooperation, as indicated by the EFE news agency.
For its part, the NGO Firefighters Without Borders also made final preparations to leave for Algeciras and travel by ferry to Morocco to help in any way possible.
Meanwhile, Algeria also stated that it will open its airspace to offer humanitarian aid to Morocco after two years without diplomatic relations. The Algerian country had broken off ties with its Moroccan neighbour in August 2021 after accusing it of "hostile acts", a situation that continued despite the hand extended by King Mohammed VI over the years, and now the Algerian state has announced that it will open its airspace for humanitarian and medical flights to its Maghreb neighbour.
