Nearly 300 people have died after a powerful earthquake struck Morocco on Friday night, according to preliminary government counts, as terrified residents of Marrakesh screamed “unbearable” after the 6.8-magnitude shock.
“According to a provisional report, the earthquake killed 296 people in the provinces and municipalities of Al-Hauz, Marrakesh, Ouarzazate, Azilal, Chichoua and Taroudant,” Morocco’s interior ministry said in a statement.
153 other people were injured in this. The quake struck at 11:11 p.m. (2211 GMT) 44 miles (71 kilometers) southwest of the tourist resort of Marrakesh at a depth of 18.5 kilometers, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
“We felt a very strong shock and I realized it was an earthquake,” Abdelhak El Amrani, 33, told AFP by telephone in Marrakesh.