Nearly 300 dead as powerful earthquake strikes Morocco

A powerful earthquake has struck Morocco, killing at least 296 people, damaging buildings in major cities and sending panicked people pouring into streets and alleyways from the capital Rabat to Marrakech, the county's most visited tourist destination.

The magnitude 6.8 earthquake that struck late on Friday night also injured more than 150 people, the country’s Interior Ministry said on Saturday.

Twenty-seven people died in the region of the tourist city Marrakech, 320 kilometres south of capital Rabat, and four others in the province of Ouarzazate further south, local media reported.

Reuters news agency citing an unnamed official said dozens of people were killed, mostly in hard-to-reach areas south of Marrakech.

The US Geological Survey [USGS] said the quake had a preliminary magnitude of 6.8 and occurred about 18 kilometres below the surface.

It said the quake hit at 11:11 pm [local time] and was centered about 56.3 kilometres west of Oukaimeden, a popular ski resort in the Atlas Mountains.

It was also near Toubkal, the highest peak in North Africa.

Variations in early measurements

Morocco's National Seismic Monitoring and Alert Network measured it at 7 on the Richter scale. The US agency reported a magnitudue-4.9 aftershock hit 19 minutes later.

Variations in early measurements are common, although either reading would be Morocco's strongest since 1960, when a magnitude 5.8 earthquake struck near Agadir and caused thousands of deaths.

Moroccans posted videos showing some buildings turned to rubble.

Tourists and others posted videos of people evacuating restaurants in Marrakech as throbbing club music played.

'Very violent tremor'

In Marrakech, some houses in the tightly packed old city have collapsed and people were working hard by hand to remove debris while they waited for heavy equipment, said local resident Id Waaziz Hassan.

Another Marrakech resident, Brahim Himmi, said he saw ambulances coming out of the old town and that many building facades were damaged.

He said people were frightened and were staying outside in case of another quake.

People in Rabat, about 350km north of Ighil, and in the coastal town of Imsouane, about 180km to its west, also fled their homes, fearing a stronger quake, according to Reuters witnesses.

Some videos shared on social media, which TRT World could not immediately verify, appeared to show at least one building collapsing and rubble in the streets.

Others showed people running out of a shopping centre, restaurants and apartment buildings and congregating outside.

"We felt a very violent tremor, and I realised it was an earthquake," Abdelhak El Amrani, a 33-year-old in Marrakech, told the AFP news agency by telephone.

"I could see buildings moving. We don't necessarily have the reflexes for this type of situation. Then I went outside and there were a lot of people there. People were all in shock and panic. The children were crying and the parents were distraught."

"The power went out for 10 minutes, and so did the [telephone] network, but then it came back on. Everyone decided to stay outside," he added.

Fayssal Badour, another Marrakech resident, told AFP he was driving when the earthquake hit.

"I stopped and realised what a disaster it was. It was very serious, as if a river had burst its banks. The screaming and crying was unbearable," he said.

Local media reported a family was trapped in the rubble after their house collapsed in the town of Al-Haouz, the epicentre of the quake.

Hospitals in Marrakech saw a "massive influx" of injured people, local media reported.

Moroccan local media reported it as the most powerful earthquake to hit the country to date.

Quake felt in Algeria

The earthquake was also felt in Portugal and neighbouring Algeria, where the Algerian Civil Defence said it had not caused any damage or casualties.

In 2004, at least 628 people were killed and 926 injured when a quake hit Al Hoceima in northeastern Morocco.

The 1980, the 7.3-magnitude El Asnam earthquake in neighbouring Algeria was one of the largest and most destructive earthquakes in recent history.

It killed 2,500 people and left at least 300,000 homeless.

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Source: TRT