International Desk: The death toll from a strong earthquake of magnitude 6.8 last Friday night in the central region of Morocco has increased to 12 people. Also, 2059 people were injured. Today, Sunday (September 10), the country’s authorities reported this information. BBC and Al Jazeera reports said that many of the injured are in critical condition. Three days of national mourning have been declared in the country due to the loss of so many lives. The US Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake had its epicenter at a depth of 18.5 kilometers in the Atlas Mountains, 71 kilometers from the city of Marrakesh.
The BBC reported that people left their homes and took to the streets after the earthquake struck at 11:11 p.m. local time on Friday. 19 minutes after the earthquake, another earthquake of magnitude 4.9 was felt. Since Saturday morning, social media has been showing videos of damaged buildings and rubble on roads. However, people were seen fleeing from their homes after hearing the warning signal. A local official reported at least 30 deaths in his area.
Some buildings collapsed in the old part of Marrakesh, a resident told the Reuters news agency. Algeria has announced that it will allow Morocco to use its airspace to make it easier to send humanitarian aid. Algeria severed all diplomatic ties with Morocco in 2021 after more than two decades of diplomatic conflict between the two countries. However, after the earthquake, Algeria’s presidency said in a statement that they were ready to provide humanitarian aid and manpower to “help our fellow Moroccans”. Morocco has been hit by several major earthquakes before.
In 2004, 628 people died in an earthquake in the Al Hoceima region in the northeast of the country. And in 1960, at least 12,000 people died in a terrible earthquake in the Agadir region. Friday’s earthquake in Morocco was centered in the Atlas Mountains. There are many remote villages in the region that are quite difficult to reach.
