“We really bonded with these beautiful, generous people in the mountains, and we want to know how they are,” she said. “It’s the start of the tourist season now for the High Atlas mountains … and that’s really unfortunate for them because they went through COVID with a lack of tourism, and they were so happy to see you – and then now this.”
Many of the villas and villages they had stayed in the mountains were destroyed, she said.
Morocco’s Interior Ministry wrote that most damage occurred outside of cities and towns.
Reports on damage and any casualties often take time to filter in after many earthquakes, particularly those that hit in the middle of the night.
Rather than return to concrete buildings, men, women and children stayed out in the streets worried about aftershocks and other reverberations that could cause their homes to sway.
The US Geological Survey said the quake had a preliminary magnitude of 6.8 when it hit at 11.11pm (Morocco time), with shaking that lasted several seconds. Morocco’s National Seismic Monitoring and Alert Network measured it at 7 on the Richter scale. The US agency reported a magnitude-4.9 aftershock hit 19 minutes later.
Variations in early measurements are common, although either reading would be Morocco’s strongest in years. Though earthquakes are relatively rare in North Africa, a magnitude 5.8 tremor struck near Agadir and caused thousands of deaths in 1960.
“I still can’t sleep in the house because of the shock and also because the old town is made up of old houses,” said Jaouhari Mohamed, a resident of Marrakesh old city, describing desperate scenes as people fled for safety.
“If one falls, it will cause others to collapse,” he said.
An Australian tourist who gave her name as Tri said the room started shaking. “We just grabbed some clothes and our bags and we raced out,” she said, clutching a pillow under her arm.
The epicentre of Friday’s tremor was high in the Atlas Mountains roughly 70 kilometres south of Marrakesh. It was also near Toubkal, the highest peak in North Africa and Oukaimeden, a popular Moroccan ski resort.
The USGS said the epicentre was 18 kilometres below the Earth’s surface, while Morocco’s seismic agency put it at 8 kilometres down.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said its embassy in Rabat was following up with local authorities to determine if any Australians are affected.
DFAT is not aware of any Australian casualties or hospitalisations at this time.
The quake was felt as far away as Portugal and Algeria, according to the Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere and Algeria’s Civil Defence agency, which oversees emergency response.
The United Nations stood ready to help the Moroccan government in “its efforts to assist the impacted population”, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.
In Marrakesh, some houses in the tightly packed old city had collapsed and people were working hard by hand to remove debris while they waited for heavy equipment, said resident Id Waaziz Hassan.
Footage of the medieval city wall showed big cracks in one section and parts that had fallen, with rubble lying on the street.
Another Marrakesh resident, Brahim Himmi, said he saw ambulances coming out of the old town and many building facades damaged. He said people were frightened and were staying outside in case of another quake.
“The chandelier fell from the ceiling and I ran out. I’m still in the road with my children and we’re scared,” said Houda Hafsi, 43, in Marrakesh.
Another woman there, Dalila Fahem, said there were cracks in her house and damage to her furniture. “Fortunately, I hadn’t gone to sleep yet,” she said.
People in the capital city of Rabat, about 350 km north of Ighil, and in the coastal town of Imsouane, about 180 kilometres to its west, also fled their homes, fearing a stronger quake, according to Reuters witnesses.
In Casablanca, some 250 kilometres north of Ighil, people who spent the night in the streets were too scared to return to their homes.
“The house rocked aggressively, everyone was scared,” said resident Mohamed Taqafi. “I thought it was only my house that was moving because it’s fragile and old. I heard people screaming, everyone went out of their houses.”
AP, Reuters
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