In the night between Friday and Saturday there was a strong earthquake in Morocco, which caused the death of hundreds of people: the Moroccan authorities said that so far 820 deaths and more than 600 injuries have been recorded, of which at least 200 seriously conditions. The earthquake occurred at 11.11pm local time (after midnight in Italy) and had a magnitude of 6.8. The epicenter was located approximately 70 kilometers from Marrakech, with the hypocenter at a depth of 10 kilometers, downstream of the Atlas mountain range.
In Marrakech, which is one of the most important cities in the country, several historic buildings and part of the minaret of the mosque in the famous Jamaa el-Fna square collapsed. There were several blackouts and Internet connections did not work for several hours. The greatest damage was detected in the mountain areas around the epicentre, which are also where rescuers are having the hardest time reaching. There is still no precise estimate of the number of people missing under the rubble of the collapsed buildings, and therefore the number of dead and injured could grow significantly in the coming hours.
Videos circulating online show people fleeing as the powerful tremors hit in Morocco.
One video appears to show the minaret of Marrakech’s famous Kutubiyya Mosque, which is nearly 1,000 years old, emanating dust, sparking fears it could collapse pic.twitter.com/5pYN8Enc7j
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) September 9, 2023
The earthquake that occurred during the night is one of the most serious in the history of the country: the one that caused the most damage occurred on 29 February 1960, when a 5.7 magnitude shock almost completely destroyed the city of Agadir, on the western coast of Morocco, and caused the death of over 12 thousand people. On February 24, 2004, however, a magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck the city of Al Hoceima, in the mountainous Rif region, causing the death of 630 people and almost a thousand injuries.