“Thank God, the whole family is fine, but we have suffered a lot and we have spent the entire night without sleeping, in the street.” Still in a panic, this is how he described to EL MUNDO Mohamed F. the nightmarish night that has been lived in Marrakech in the midst of the most powerful earthquake that has been experienced in the recent history of Morocco. The death toll at this time amounts to 1,305 and 1,832 injured, of which 721 are serious.
The tourist city of Marrakech, about 320 kilometers from Rabat, has been one of the most affected areas, as well as the provinces of Al Haouz, Ouarzarzat, Azilal Chichaua and Taroudant, according to the Moroccan Ministry of the Interior. The earthquake reached a magnitude of 6.8 on the Richter scale, according to various sources. It occurred at 11:11 p.m. local time on Friday, already after midnight on the Peninsula, where the shaking was also felt. Its epicenter is located in the town of Ighil, about 80 kilometers southwest of Marrakech.
In the previous balance, of 820 deaths, most of the deaths (394) had been registered in Al Hauz, the epicenter province of the earthquake, and in Tarundant (271), further south, reports Afp.
Most of the fatalities from this earthquake, the country’s deadliest in more than six decades, are in the High Atlas mountain areas, difficult to access for rescue teams, and on the outskirts of tourist Marrakech, the city closest to the epicenter.
Of the 18,000 Spaniards residing in the neighboring country, at the moment there is no evidence of deaths or injuries, as reported by the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares.
The strong tremor caused scenes of panic and the residents of the area spent the night outdoors. “We felt a very violent shaking and I soon realized it was an earthquake,” Abdelhak el Amrani, who lives in Marrakech, told Afp. In the famous Jemaa el Fna square, in the heart of the ocher village (UNESCO World Heritage Site) a minaret collapsed, causing injuries. The large esplanade that every night houses snake charmers and storytellers, as well as stalls and restaurants, this time was filled with people who wanted to take refuge under the sky, escaping from the narrow streets of the medina.
“I saw the buildings moving. We don’t have the reflexes to react in this type of situation. I went out and there were many people outside. People were shocked. Children were crying, parents were helpless,” adds Amrani. The damage in the old city is significant, with cars under the rubble and numerous collapsed buildings. Historical places have also been affected. The entire city is prey to the rubble and chaos left by the earthquake.
Moroccan media claim that it is the most powerful earthquake that the North African country has ever experienced. The Ministry of the Interior placed its magnitude at 7, while the US Geological Survey measured it at 6.8, indicating that it occurred at a depth of 8-10 kilometers. The Moroccan Government has assured that it has mobilized “all the necessary resources to intervene and help in the affected areas.” The local blood transfusion center launched an appeal for donations, reports Efe.
By order of the king, Mohamed VI, armed forces have been deployed in the affected regions, especially Al Haouz, including aerial means. Rescue and rescue teams and a field medical-surgical hospital have been sent, according to local media Le360.
International solidarity has been felt since the first hours of the catastrophe. The Government of Spain, led by the president, Pedro Sánchez, expressed this Saturday its condolences and solidarity to Morocco for the “terrible” earthquake. “All my solidarity and support for the people of Morocco in the face of the terrible earthquake that occurred this morning. Spain is with the victims of this tragedy and their families,” he wrote on the social network X, formerly known as Twitter, Efe reported.
The President of France, Emmanuel Macron, expressed his “shock” and made the necessary help available to Morocco: “France is ready to help with first aid,” said the president, who recently arrived in New Delhi to attend the summit of the G-20. More signs of solidarity came from the Indian capital.
The Algerian authorities announced the opening of their airspace – closed two years earlier when diplomatic relations were broken with Morocco – for humanitarian flights and transportation of the wounded to and from the Alawite kingdom after the earthquake.
Several countries, including Spain, the United Kingdom, Italy, Israel and the United States, offered support to Morocco for the rescue efforts.
The presidents of Russia, Vladimir Putin; from Ukraine, Volodomir Zelensky; from Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and from China, Xi Jinping also expressed their condolences and solidarity. The African Union expressed its “great pain” over the tragedy.
On social media, Moroccans have shared numerous photos and videos showing damaged and fallen buildings, some with people injured or apparently dead in the rubble.
Several buildings in the medina (old city) of Marrakech were damaged by the earthquake.
Khalid, a resident of the medina, indicated that the minaret of the Bab Ailan mosque fell to the ground due to the tremor and the entrance to the temple was also damaged.
According to witnesses contacted by Efe, the tremor was felt in northern towns such as Larache, 550 kilometers from the epicenter, as well as in Casablanca and Rabat, 300 and 370 kilometers away, respectively, where its inhabitants took to the streets to prevent a possible second. shaking. It was even felt in the neighboring country of Algeria, where authorities ruled out damage or victims.
Sofía Catalá, a Spaniard living in the center of Marrakech, explained to Efe that during the earthquake “the ground began to move as if during a bombing.” “She thought the building was falling down; everyone is out in the street in their pajamas,” she added.
Minutes after the earthquake, from the street, Catalá indicated that, due to the shaking, all the residents of her building came out and that railings and other objects fell from the balconies, but she added that she did not see any buildings around her with significant damage.
“There are about 18,000 Spaniards who reside in Morocco. At this moment, we have no evidence of any deaths or injuries,” said Foreign Minister Albares, who has encouraged all Spaniards in Morocco, for tourism or work. , that they “contact the consular emergency telephone number.”
Mimi Theobald, a 25-year-old English tourist, was in Marrakech with some friends about to eat dessert on the terrace of a restaurant “when the tables started to shake, the plates to fly. We panicked,” reports Afp.
“The population in this region lives in structures that are highly vulnerable to seismic shaking,” the USGS said.
The USGS PAGER system, which provides preliminary assessments of the impact of earthquakes, issued an Orange Alert for economic losses, estimating that significant damage is likely, as well as a Yellow Alert for possible quake-related fatalities.
Said, a resident of Casablanca, confirmed to Efe that he felt the earthquake. “It has not been very strong, but it lasted 15 seconds without stopping. I immediately called my family in Marrakech and there it has been strong, even my sister-in-law fainted from fright,” he explained by phone.
In a town in Al Haouz province, where rescue teams are working to search for survivors, a family was trapped in the rubble after their house collapsed, according to media.
Nearby, neighbors were already digging graves on a hill to bury the victims, according to an AFP team present at the scene.
Citing medical sources, news website Médias24 said there had been “a massive influx” of injured people into Marrakech hospitals.
Videos recorded in Marrakech show residents running out of buildings in the midst of the shaking, rubble falling from buildings into narrow alleys and vehicles covered in stones.
State television images from the Moulay Ibrahim area, about 40 km south of Marrakech, showed dozens of collapsed houses in the foothills of a mountain, and residents digging graves while groups of women remained in the street.
Montasir Itri, a resident of Asni village near the epicenter, said most houses had been damaged. “Our neighbors are under the rubble and people are working hard to rescue them using the means available in the town,” he told Reuters.
Further west, near Taroudant, Professor Hamid Afkar said he had fled his home and felt the aftershocks. “The ground shook for about 20 seconds. The doors opened and closed on their own as I ran down from the second floor,” he said.
“Around 11pm, we felt a very violent shaking, I realized it was an earthquake. I saw the buildings that were moving. We do not have the reflections of this type of situation. Then I went out and there were many people outside,” explained Abdelhak el Amrani , a 33-year-old resident of Marrakech, by phone to AFP.
“People were shocked and panicked. Children were crying, parents were helpless,” said Amrani, who reported a loss of electricity and telephone connection for 10 minutes.
Fayssal Badour, 58, was driving home when the earthquake hit. “I stopped and realized the catastrophe. It was very serious (…) The screams and cries were unbearable,” he said.
“There is not much damage, more panic,” a resident of Essaouira, 200 km from Marrakech, told AFP by phone. “People are in the squares, in the cafes, they prefer to sleep in the open,” he added.
Morocco experiences earthquakes frequently in its northern region due to its position between the African and Eurasian plates.
Last night’s earthquake was Morocco’s deadliest since 1960, when a tremor is estimated to have killed at least 12,000 people, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
In 1980, the 7.3 magnitude El Asnam earthquake in neighboring Algeria was one of the most destructive earthquakes in contemporary history. It left 2,500 dead and at least 300,000 homeless.
In 2004, at least 628 people were killed and 926 injured when an earthquake hit Al Hoceima, in the northeast of the country.
The Morocco-Liberia match, in the qualifying phase for the African Cup of Nations that was going to be played this Saturday in Agadir, has been postponed until a date to be determined, Efe reports.
Marrakech is scheduled to host the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in early October, Reuters reports.
Emergencies 112 Andalusia has registered twenty calls from the provinces of Huelva, Seville, Malaga and Jaén due to the magnitude 7 earthquake that shook the northern Moroccan region of Marrakech on Friday.
The 112 has received calls that, in all cases, alert that earth movements have occurred in the aforementioned provinces, without reporting damage for the moment on Andalusian soil apart from the shock of the citizens.
The earthquake was felt in Portugal in a moderate way, where no victims or material damage were reported, reported the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and the Atmosphere, according to Efe.
It was recorded at the stations of the national seismic network and was felt moderately in several cities such as Lisbon, Setúbal, Castro Marim, Portimão and Cascais, among others.
The Spanish Embassy in Morocco has recalled that “in case of need” Spaniards in the country can contact the consular emergency telephone numbers.
The following contact and information telephone numbers are available, reserved for people directly affected, direct relatives or in need.
Consular Emergency Telephone 910001249
In Morocco, our Embassy in Rabat and the General Consulates are fully operational for the Spanish affected by the earthquake. Telephones available in the area:
Consular emergency telephone number of the Consulate General of Casablanca: 212660488848
Telephone of the General Consulate enabled for this emergency: 212665807977
