AMIZMIZ, MOROCCO: Rescuers dug through rubble for survivors in collapsed houses in remote mountain villages of Morocco on Saturday, in the wake of the country’s deadliest earthquake for more than six decades, which killed more than 1,000 people.
The quake which struck in Morocco’s High Atlas mountains late on Friday night damaged historic buildings in Marrakech – the nearest city to the epicentre – while the most of the fatalities were reported in mountainous areas to the south. Strong tremors were also felt in the coastal cities of Rabat, Casablanca and Essaouira.
The interior ministry said 1,037 people had been killed and another 672 injured by the quake, gauged by the US Geological Survey at a magnitude of 6.8 with an epicentre some 72km southwest of Marrakech. In the village of Amizmiz near the epicentre, rescue workers picked through rubble with their bare hands. Outside a hospital, around 10 bodies lay covered in blankets. Tremors were felt as far away as Huelva and Jaen in Andalusia in southern Spain. In Marrakech, residents spent the night in the open, afraid to go home. In the heart of its old city, a Unesco World Heritage site, a mosque minaret had fallen in Jemaa al-Fna Square. The quake was recorded at a depth of 18.5 km, typically more destructive than deeper quakes of the same magnitude.
The quake which struck in Morocco’s High Atlas mountains late on Friday night damaged historic buildings in Marrakech – the nearest city to the epicentre – while the most of the fatalities were reported in mountainous areas to the south. Strong tremors were also felt in the coastal cities of Rabat, Casablanca and Essaouira.
The interior ministry said 1,037 people had been killed and another 672 injured by the quake, gauged by the US Geological Survey at a magnitude of 6.8 with an epicentre some 72km southwest of Marrakech. In the village of Amizmiz near the epicentre, rescue workers picked through rubble with their bare hands. Outside a hospital, around 10 bodies lay covered in blankets. Tremors were felt as far away as Huelva and Jaen in Andalusia in southern Spain. In Marrakech, residents spent the night in the open, afraid to go home. In the heart of its old city, a Unesco World Heritage site, a mosque minaret had fallen in Jemaa al-Fna Square. The quake was recorded at a depth of 18.5 km, typically more destructive than deeper quakes of the same magnitude.
#Quake #Morocco #kills #damages #historic #Marrakech #buildings
