A strong earthquake – magnitude 7 on the Richter scale – has hit the region of Marrakech, in Morocco, causing 296 deaths and over 150 injuries, but the toll is expected to rise.
Seismographs recorded the shock at 23.11:8 p.m. on Friday, September 16. The epicenter was located in the center of the country, 72 kilometers from the village of Tata N'Yaaqoub, in the municipality of Ighil, XNUMX kilometers southwest of Marrakech.
The shock, however, was felt along the entire Atlas ridge, in Merzouga, one of the gates to the desert, Taroudant, Essaouira and Agadir and on the other side of the mountain range in Casablanca, up to Rabat.
The undulating movement lasted about 30 seconds. The material damage was considerable. The police, civil protection and medical and paramedical personnel were mobilized to prepare a possible emergency plan. The earthquake toll is updated minute by minute, as data arrives from the cities and especially from the mountain resorts near the epicenter.
The villages that dot the Atlas are very poor, often without internet connection and the houses are built with the characteristic apisé wall, made of straw, mud and stones. Great fear especially in the medina of Marrakech, where the most fragile parts of the walls that surround the historic center have collapsed.
Some homes have collapsed, in Jamaa el Fna square the minaret of a small mosque near the historic 'Café de France' has collapsed. Damage has been reported in the kasbah of Marrakech and collapsed homes in the north-east area. In the new city there are cracks in the bell tower of the Catholic church of Gueliz.
Facades collapsed in Essaouira, on the Atlantic Ocean, and in Ouarzazate, in the center-south. Thousands poured into the streets of the new city of Marrakech and the alleys of the medina, in panic. Electricity and internet connection were missing for a long time.
The switchboard of the Italian embassy in Rabat has received numerous calls, especially from tourists asking to return home. At the moment the airports are closed and will reopen on Saturday morning. (ù
Article published on 9 September 2023 - 08:11
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