Northern Morocco experiences earthquakes more often, including tremors of magnitude 6.4 in 2004 and magnitude 6.3 in 2016.Įlsewhere this year, a magnitude 7.8 temblor that shook Syria and Turkey killed more than 50,000 people. There had not been any earthquakes stronger than magnitude 6.0 within 310 miles (500 kilometres) of Friday’s tremor in at least a century, according to the US Geological Survey. That quake prompted changes in construction rules in Morocco, but many buildings - especially rural homes - are not built to withstand such force. Although such powerful tremors are rare, it isn’t the country’s deadliest: just over 60 years ago, Morocco was rocked by a magnitude 5.8 quake that killed over 12,000 people on its western coast, crumbling the city of Agadir, southwest of Marrakech. The city is Morocco’s most widely visited destination, known for its palaces, spice markets, madrasas and Jemaa El Fna - its noisy square full of food vendors and musicians.įriday’s earthquake was Morocco’s strongest in over a century. Videos showed dust emanating from parts of the Koutoubia Mosque, one of the city’s best-known historic sites. The earthquake cracked and crumbled parts of the walls that surround Marrakech’s old city, a Unesco World Heritage site built in the 12th century. It also includes World Central Kitchen, Doctors Without Borders and GlobalGiving, which created a Morocco Earthquake Relief Fund and had raised more than $500,000 as of Tuesday morning. That includes the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, which quickly released $1.1 million from its Disaster Response Emergency Fund to support Moroccan Red Crescent relief efforts in the country. How can people help?Įxperts say the most direct way to provide aid to those affected in the city of Marrakech and the rural areas in the Atlas Mountains is to donate to organizations that have operations already on the ground. The Interior Ministry said it was accepting search and rescue-focused international aid from non-governmental organisations, as well as Spain, Qatar, Britain and the United Arab Emirates, bypassing offers from French President Emmanuel Macron and US President Joe Biden.
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