In the country’s deadliest tremor in more than 60 years, a massive earthquake in Morocco leaves more than 800 people dead, injured hundreds more, destroyed structures, and forced residents of major cities to flee their homes.
Reuter reported that late on Friday night, a 7.2-magnitude earthquake was felt in Morocco’s High Atlas Mountains. In a revised casualty count, the report revealed that the Interior Ministry reported that 820 people had died and another 672 had been injured.
Damage was done to structures in the ancient city, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In Jemaa al-Fina Square, the centre of Marrakech’s ancient city, a mosque’s minaret had collapsed. Rescuers searched among the debris.
Locals remarked that they suffered great harm from the tremor.
A local hospital had about 150 people waiting outside; the majority of them were injured people’s relatives. Due to the inability of the local hospitals to handle significant casualties, the majority had travelled from hilly locations outside of the city.
According to Jaouhari Mohamed, a resident of Marrakech’s old city, desperate sightings of people fleeing for safety were witnessed. “I still can’t sleep in the house because of the shock and also because the old town is made up of old houses,” he said.
Morocco’s geophysical centre reported that the earthquake occurred in the High Atlas region of Ighil shortly after 11 p.m. (22:00 GMT).
The U.S. Geological Survey says that the earthquake is the deadliest to strike Morocco since a tremor that is thought to have killed at least 12,000 people in 1960.
Governments from across the world provided support and showed solidarity.
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