A strong earthquake hit Morocco’s High Atlas mountains on Friday night, causing at least 296 deaths, damaging buildings, and forcing people in major cities to leave their homes.
The Interior Ministry reported the initial death toll, with 153 injuries. Most of the fatalities occurred in hard-to-reach mountain regions, according to a local official.
In Marrakech, the nearest large city to the epicenter, some buildings in the UNESCO World Heritage-listed old city collapsed. Local TV showed images of a mosque minaret fallen onto crushed cars.
The Interior Ministry called for calm, revealing that the earthquake affected Al Haouz, Ouarzazate, Marrakech, Azilal, Chichaoua, and Taroudant provinces.
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Montasir Itri, a resident of Asni, a mountain village near the epicenter, reported significant damage to houses, with people trying to rescue their neighbors trapped beneath the rubble.
Further west, near Taroudant, teacher Hamid Afkar described fleeing his home during the 20-second tremor, witnessing doors opening and closing by themselves.
Morocco’s geophysical center reported the quake’s magnitude at 7.2 in the Ighil area of the High Atlas, while the U.S. Geological Survey estimated it at 6.8, occurring relatively shallow at 18.5 km (11.5 miles) below the surface.
Ighil, a mountainous area with small farming communities, lies approximately 70 km (40 miles) southwest of Marrakech, and the quake struck shortly after 11 p.m. (2200 GMT).
This earthquake is the deadliest in Morocco since a 2004 tremor near Al Hoceima in the northern Rif mountains claimed over 600 lives.
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The United Nations expressed readiness to assist the Moroccan government in aiding the affected population, as stated by U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.
In Marrakech, residents in the old city worked tirelessly by hand to clear debris from collapsed buildings while awaiting heavy equipment. The medieval city wall displayed significant cracks and fallen sections.
People in Rabat, the capital city, and Imsouane, a coastal town west of Rabat, fled their homes in fear of a more powerful aftershock. In Casablanca, residents spent the night in the streets, too scared to return home.
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Videos shared on social media, not immediately verified by Reuters, depicted people hastily leaving shopping centers, restaurants, and apartments after the quake.
