Joe Ogini
Digging the dead from the rubbles of the devastating earthquake that hit Morocco, Friday the 8th of September, 2023, continues in remote villages as the death toll edges higher to more than 2,000 persons.
This is coming even as survivors, in what is described as one of the deadliest earthquake in more than six decades struggle to find food, water and shelter on Sunday, as the search for more bodies continues.
Many people were spending a third night in the open after the 6.8 magnitude quake hit late on Friday. Relief workers face the challenge of reaching the worst-affected villages in the High Atlas, a rugged mountain range where settlements are often remote and where many houses crumbled.
On 8 September 2023 at 23:11 DST (22:11 UTC), an earthquake with a moment magnitude of 6.8–6.9 and maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe) struck Morocco’s Marrakesh-Safi region.
The earthquake’s epicenter was located 73.4 km (45.6 mi) southwest of Marrakesh, near the town of Ighil in the Atlas Mountains.
It occurred as a result of shallow oblique-thrust faulting beneath the mountain range. At least 2,122 deaths were reported, with most occurring outside Marrakesh. Damage was widespread, and historic landmarks in Marrakesh were destroyed.
The earthquake was also felt in Spain, Portugal, Gibraltar, Mauritania, and Algeria.
It remains the strongest instrumentally recorded earthquake in Morocco and deadliest in the country since 1960.
It is also the second deadliest earthquake of 2023 after the Turkey–Syria earthquake.
The World Health Organization estimated about 300,000 people from Marrakesh and the surrounding areas were affected.
Following the earthquake, many countries offered humanitarian assistance. Morocco also announced a three-day period of national mourning.
With additional reports from Reuters