Khadija Fairouze’s face was swollen from crying as she accompanied relatives and neighbors carrying possessions across rock-strewn roads. They lost their daughter and three grandchildren, ages 4 to 11, when their house collapsed while they were sleeping, less than 48 hours earlier.
“There is nothing left. Everything fell apart,” said his sister, Hafida Fairouze.
The Mohammed V Foundation for Solidarity is coordinating help, including food, medical aid, emergency shelter and blankets for about 15,000 families in Al Houz province, state news agency MAP quoted the organization’s head, Youssef Rabouli, as saying after visiting the area. Was.
Rescuers, supported by soldiers and police, searched collapsed homes in the remote town of Addasil, near the epicenter. According to MAP report, military vehicles, bulldozers and other equipment were brought in to clear the roads. Ambulances transported dozens of injured people from Tikhat village, population 800, to Mohammed VI University Hospital in Marrakesh.
In Marrakech, large pieces were missing from a collapsed roof, and distorted metal, broken concrete and dust were left in a building cordoned off by police.
Tourists and residents stood in queues to donate blood.
“I didn’t even think twice about it,” Jalila Guerina told The Associated Press, “especially in situations where people are dying, especially at this time when they need help, any help.” He cited his duty as a Moroccan citizen.
The USGS said the earthquake, which struck at 11:11 p.m., had an initial magnitude of 6.8 and continued for several seconds. After 19 minutes there was a shock of 4.9 magnitude. The collision of the African and Eurasian tectonic plates occurred at a relatively shallow depth, which makes the earthquake more dangerous.
It was the most powerful earthquake to hit the North African country in more than 120 years, according to USGS records from 1900, but it was not the deadliest. In 1960, a magnitude 5.8 earthquake struck near the city of Agadir, killing at least 12,000 people. That earthquake prompted Morocco to change construction rules, but many buildings, especially rural homes, are not built to withstand such shaking.
In 2004, a magnitude 6.4 earthquake killed more than 600 people near the Mediterranean coastal city of Al Hoceima.