Residents stay out at a square following an earthquake in Marrakesh on September 9, 2023.
Sept 9,
2023. Posted by Balkan Periscope - Hellas
Authorities
declared three days of national mourning, but the Red Cross warned that it
could take years to repair the damage.
The
6.8-magnitude quake struck late Friday in a mountainous area 72 kilometres (45
miles) southwest of the tourist city of Marrakesh, the US Geological Survey
reported.
With strong tremors also felt in the coastal cities of Rabat, Casablanca and Essaouira, the quake caused widespread damage and sent terrified residents and tourists scrambling to safety in the middle of the night.
"I was
nearly asleep when I heard the doors and the shutters banging," said
Ghannou Najem, a Casablanca resident in her 80s who was visiting Marrakesh when
the quake hit.
"I
went outside in a panic. I thought I was going to die alone."
In the
mountain village of Tafeghaghte near the quake's epicentre, virtually no
buildings were left standing. The traditional clay bricks used by the region's
Berber inhabitants proved no match for the rare quake.
In the late
afternoon, soldiers continued to search through debris, but most survivors
headed to the cemetery where loud screams punctuated the last rites as some 70
villagers were laid to rest.
"Three
of my grandchildren and their mother were killed -- they are still under the
rubble," villager Omar Benhanna, 72, told AFP. "Just a while ago, we
were all playing together," he added.
It was the
strongest-ever quake to hit the North African kingdom, and one expert described
it as the region's "biggest in more than 120 years".
"Where
destructive earthquakes are rare, buildings are simply not constructed robustly
enough... so many collapse, resulting in high casualties," said Bill
McGuire, professor emeritus at Britain's University College London.
Updated
interior ministry figures on Saturday showed the quake killed at least 1,305
people, the vast majority in Al-Haouz, the epicentre, and Taroudant provinces.
Another
1,832 people were injured, including 1,220 in a critical condition, the
ministry said.
Civil
defence Colonel Hicham Choukri who is heading relief operations told state
television earlier the epicentre and strength of the earthquake created
"an exceptional emergency situation".
After a
meeting chaired by King Mohammed VI, the palace announced three days of
national mourning, with flags to fly at half-mast on all public buildings.
'Unbearable'
screams
Faisal
Badour, an engineer, said he felt the quake three times in his building in
Marrakesh.
"There
are families who are still sleeping outside because we were so scared of the
force of this earthquake," he said. "The screaming and crying was
unbearable."
Frenchman
Michael Bizet, 43, who owns three traditional riad houses in Marrakesh's old
town, told AFP he was in bed when the quake struck.
"I
thought my bed was going to fly away. I went out into the street half-naked and
immediately went to see my riads. It was total chaos, a real catastrophe,
madness," he said.
Footage on
social media showed part of a minaret collapsed on Jemaa el-Fna square in the
historic city.
An AFP
correspondent saw hundreds of people flocking to the square to spend the night
for fear of aftershocks, some with blankets while others slept on the ground.
Houda
Outassaf, a local resident, said she was "still in shock" after
feeling the earth shake beneath her feet -- and losing relatives.
"I
have at least 10 members of my family who died... I can hardly believe it, as I
was with them no more than two days ago," she said.
The
regional blood transfusion centre in Marrakesh called on residents to donate
blood for the injured.
The Royal
Moroccan Football Federation announced that a Cup of African Nations qualifier
against Liberia, due to have been played on Saturday in the coastal city of
Agadir, had been postponed indefinitely.
Significant
damage likely
"We
heard screams at the time of the tremor," a resident of Essaouira, 200
kilometres (125 miles) west of Marrakesh, told AFP. "Pieces of facades
have fallen."
The USGS
PAGER system, which provides preliminary assessments on the impact of
earthquakes, issued a "red alert" for economic losses, saying
extensive damage is probable.
The Red
Cross said it was mobilising resources to support the Moroccan Red Crescent,
but its Middle East and North Africa director, Hossam Elsharkawi, warned:
"We are looking at many months if not years of response."
Foreign
leaders expressed their condolences and many offered assistance, including
Israel with which Morocco normalised relations in 2020.
Neighbour
and regional rival Algeria announced it was suspending a two-year-old ban on
all Moroccan flights through its airspace to enable aid deliveries and medical
evacuations.
US
President Joe Biden said he was "deeply saddened by the loss of life and
devastation".
Chinese
leader Xi Jinping expressed "deep grief for the victims" and hope
that "the Moroccan government and people will be able to overcome the
impact of this disaster".
In 2004, at
least 628 people were killed and 926 injured when a quake hit Al Hoceima in
northeastern Morocco, and in 1960 a magnitude 6.7 quake in Agadir killed more
than 12,000.
The
7.3-magnitude El Asnam earthquake in Algeria killed 2,500 people and left at
least 300,000 homeless in 1980.
ahram
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