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A powerful earthquake in Morocco has killed more than 1,000 people

By: Ruth Sherlock I NPR
Posted on: Saturday, September 9, 2023

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MARRAKECH, Morocco (NPR) – Over 1,000 people have died and hundreds more have been injured in a powerful earthquake close to Morocco’s historic city of Marrakech.

The 6.8-magnitude earthquake on Friday night devastated homes in villages across the Atlas Mountains, as well as historical sites inside Marrakech city.

Video footage posted online from the earthquake region shows people dazed and panicked, moving through streets in the dark amid these clouds of dust as they try to find some kind of safety.

Mourad Louksani, a hotel manager in Marrakech, told NPR’s Scott Simon that he was in his apartment with his children when the earthquake hit.

He said he was in bed and heard a sound that wasn’t “normal.” They felt the apartment shaking. “My children were crying. … Fortunately, we get outside the house and we went downstairs in the building and we saw everybody get out of their houses and we ended up standing outside. … Everybody went outside.”

Rescuers worked through the night but say many roads are impassable, making it hard to reach the injured and those trapped under the rubble in some of the remote towns and villages. Power is also said to be out in several of these places.

The government has sent trucks loaded with aid — blankets, food, camp cots ad more — to try to reach the affected areas.

In Marrakech, ambulances screamed through the streets ferrying the injured to overcrowded hospitals.

The ancient city dates back to the 11th century and many of its stone buildings and masonry aren’t built to withstand earthquakes. The famous 12th century Koutoubia Mosque may have been damaged. Videos posted online show the mosque’s 226-foot-high minaret shaking, with dust billowing from the top. The famous red walls that surround the old city — a UNESCO World Heritage site – have also reportedly crumbled in some places.

Marrakech attracts tourists from around the world. After the earthquake, some tourists joined lines of Moroccans at a Marrakesh hospital offering to donate blood to help the many wounded.

President Biden said in a statement that he was “deeply saddened” by the loss of life in Morocco. “We are working expeditiously to ensure American citizens in Morocco are safe, and stand ready to provide any necessary assistance for the Moroccan people,” he said.

France and Germany, which both have a large number of Moroccan nationals in their populations, are among many countries that have also offered to send assistance.

This is reportedly the strongest earthquake ever recorded in this region of the Atlas Mountains. But Morocco does have some history of earthquakes.

In 1960 between 12,000 and 15,000 people died in a quake near the coastal city of Agadir.