More than 2,000 Killed In Morocco Earthquake (Developing Story)

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

RABAT (Worthy News) – The death toll of Morocco’s earthquake rose to more than 2,000 overnight, making it the deadliest tremor in decades.

The toll was expected to rise as rescuers struggled to reach hard-hit remote areas. Friday’s magnitude 6.8 quake, the biggest to hit the North African country in 120 years, sent people fleeing their homes in terror and disbelief late Friday.

The powerful earthquake damaged buildings in major cities and sent panicked people pouring into streets and alleyways from the capital, Rabat, to Marrakech, the county’s most visited tourist destination and a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Witnesses said they had seen toppling buildings in mountainous villages and ancient cities not built to withstand such force. The number of people killed rose to 2,012, the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces said in a late-night update Saturday, local time. There are also 2,059 injured, including 1,404 in critical condition, it said

Morocco’s geophysical center said the quake struck in the Ighil area with a magnitude of 7.2. The US Geological Survey put the quake’s magnitude at 6.8 shallow and said it was at a relatively shallow depth of 18.5 kilometers (11.5 miles). Residents of Marrakech, 71 kilometers (44 miles) southwest of the quake’s epicenter, said some buildings had collapsed in the old red city, a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of Africa’s top tourist locations.

Local television showed pictures of a fallen mosque minaret with rubble lying on smashed cars after the quake struck the city, which was founded in 1070. It was one of the deadliest events to hit the historic town in years.

“I was returning home when the earthquake struck. My car rocked back and forth, but I didn’t imagine for a single second this meant there was an earthquake happening,” said Fayssal Badour, from Marrakesh. “I stopped and I realized the catastrophe … it felt like we were on a river that suddenly burst its banks. The cries and the shouts were unbearable.”

FALLEN MOSQUE

Another Marrakech resident, Brahim Himmi, told media he saw “ambulances coming out” of the old town and many building facades damaged. People were “frightened and were staying outside in case of another quake,” he added.

Local television showed pictures of a fallen mosque minaret with rubble lying on smashed cars after the quake struck.

Witnesses said the medieval city wall showed big cracks in one section and parts that had fallen, with rubble lying on the street. Internet connectivity was disrupted in Marrakech due to power cuts in the region, according to global internet monitor NetBlocks.

Outside Marrakech, people were also fleeing homes in other cities, including in the nation’s capital Rabat, the coastal town of Imsouane, and the port city of Essaouira. “We heard screams at the time of the tremor,” a resident of Essaouira, 200 kilometers (124 miles) west of hard-hit Marrakech, said. “People are in the squares, in the cafes, preferring to sleep outside. Pieces of facades have fallen.”

With rescue efforts just beginning, there were fears the death toll and number of injured people could rise.

Authorities warned most deaths were in mountainous areas that were hard to reach.

EARTH SHAKING

“The earth shook for about 20 seconds. Doors opened and shut by themselves as I rushed downstairs from the second floor,” added Hamid Afkir, a teacher in a mountainous area west of the epicenter near Taroudant. Afkir added there had been aftershocks.

Morocco experiences frequent earthquakes in its northern region due to its position between the African and Eurasian plates.

However this weekend’s quake was the nation’s deadliest in nearly two decades, according to official data.

In 2004 at least 628 people were killed and 926 injured when a quake hit al-Hoceima in north-eastern Morocco.

In 1980, the 7.3-magnitude El Asnam earthquake in neighboring Algeria killed 2,500 people and left at least 300,000 homeless.

Yet Friday’s quake was felt as far away as Portugal and Algeria, according to the Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere and Algeria’s Civil Defence agency, which oversees emergency response.

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