Death toll rises to 1,037 and 612 injured in the worst earthquake in the history of Morocco

The tourist city of Marrakech woke up on Saturday in a state of shock after the violent earthquake that shook Morocco on Friday night and which left at least 820 dead and significant material damage. The narrow streets of the Mellah, the historic Jewish quarter of the medina, were littered with rubble, old buildings collapsed and wooden roofs were broken.

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“It’s as if a bomb had fallen on us,” Hafida Sahraouia told AFP in dismay.

People walk through the rubble of a building damaged after an earthquake in Marrakech, Morocco, on September 9, 2023. (EFE/EPA/JALAL MORCHIDI).

“We were making dinner when we heard some kind of explosion. I panicked and quickly left with my children. Unfortunately our house collapsed,” said the 50-year-old woman, who sought refuge with her family in a large square in her neighborhood.

“We don’t know where to start. “We have lost everything.”he lamented.

Residents remain in a square after an earthquake in Marrakech, Morocco, on September 9, 2023. (Photo by Fadel SENNA / AFP). (FADEL SENNA/)

The house of Mbarka El Ghabar, a neighbor of Sahraouia, was also “destroyed” by the earthquake.

“We were sleeping when the earthquake occurred, a part of the roof fell and we were trapped inside, but my husband and I managed to escape,” He explained and stated that “he had a nightmare night.”

The epicenter of the earthquake. (AFP).

‘Dying alone’

Mbarka and Hafida did not lose any members of their family, a luck that unfortunately Fatiha Aboualchouak could not share, whose four-year-old nephew died.

The thirty-year-old, who walked with a limp as if in a trance, has “no strength to speak,” she admitted in a weak voice.

According to the Moroccan media, It is the most powerful earthquake suffered by the kingdom.

REGRETTABLE ????
Dramatic images in #Morocco after the fort #earthquake M6.8 to W of #Oukaïmedene
They report collapsing buildings and dozens of deaths (preliminary), panic and desolation in the streets.#Morocco #earthquake #earthquake
Our respect and solidarity.
Via… pic.twitter.com/MPQp2SE458

— Geol. Sergio Almazán (@chematierra) September 9, 2023

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) reported that the earthquake was of magnitude 6.8 and occurred at a depth of 18.5 kilometers, with the epicenter 71 kilometers southwest of Marrakech, a popular destination for foreign tourists.

In the ocher city, where a provisional toll of 13 deaths was recorded, hundreds of tourists and residents of neighboring neighborhoods took refuge in the famous Jemaa el Fna square.

Many slept on the floor, sometimes without blankets.

People seek safety in the street after an earthquake in Rabat, Morocco, on September 8, 2023. (EFE/EPA/Jalal Morchidi).

Others did not manage to sleep a wink, like Ghannou Najem, an octogenarian who arrived from Casablanca to Marrakech a few hours before the earthquake.

“I came to visit the city with my daughter and granddaughter. At night they went out and I stayed at the hotel. I was going to sleep when I heard doors slamming and shutters clicking. “I left terrified, I thought I was going to die alone.”he claimed.

People search through the rubble of a damaged building with the help of an excavator after an earthquake in Marrakech, Morocco, on September 9, 2023. (EFE/EPA/JALAL MORCHIDI).

A ‘traumatic’ experience

A few meters away, Rabab Raïss, wrapped in a duvet, He described the earthquake as “the most traumatic experience of my life.”

“I saw people running everywhere, there was a lot of dust from the landslides. “I was terrified,” said the 26-year-old girl, who lives in Marrakech.

“It is a painful experience, I am wholeheartedly with the families of the victims,” he added.

In addition to Marrakech, the violent tremor was felt in Rabat, Casablanca, Agadir and Essaouirasowing panic among the population.

Many people took to the streets of those cities, fearing the collapse of their homes, according to images published on social networks.

In 2004, at least 628 people were killed and 926 injured when a 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck Al Hoceima, in the northeast of the country.

And in 1960, another earthquake destroyed Agadir, on the country’s west coast, leaving more than 12,000 dead, a third of the city’s population.

Source: Elcomercio