A rare, powerful earthquake struck Morocco late Friday night, killing more than 1,000 people and damaging buildings from villages in the Atlas Mountains to the historic city of Marrakech.
The interior ministry said authorities have "mobilised all the necessary resources to intervene and help the affected areas". / Photo: Reuters
The 6.8-magnitude quake struck a mountainous area 72 kilometres southwest of tourist hotspot Marrakesh at 11:11 pm Friday, the US Geological Survey reported."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.It is 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".
Updated interior ministry figures on Saturday showed the quake killed at least 1,037 people, the vast majority in Al-Haouz, the epicentre, and Taroudant provinces.The ministry also recorded deaths in Ouarzazate, Chichaoua, Azilal and Youssoufia provinces, as well as in Marrakesh, Agadir and the Casablanca area.Faisal Badour, an engineer, said he felt the quake three times in his building in Marrakesh.
In Moulay Brahim village, in the mountains of Al-Haouz province near the quake's epicentre, rescuers were searching for survivors in the rubble of collapsed houses, AFP correspondents reported.Frenchman Michael Bizet, 43, who owns three traditional riad houses in Marrakesh's old town, told AFP that he was in bed when the quake struck.
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