INTERNATIONAL

Morocco earthquake: Death toll reaches 2000, hundreds injured

By News Desk

September 10, 2023

Over 2,000 have died and 329 others injured after a powerful quake hit Morocco on Saturday.

Moroccans posted videos showing buildings reduced to rubble and dust and parts of the famous red walls that surround the old city in historic Marrakech, a UNESCO World Heritage site, damaged.

The US Geological Survey said the quake had a preliminary magnitude of 6.8 when it hit at 11:11 pm, 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.

The village of Tafeghaghte, 60 kilometres southwest of Marrakesh, was almost entirely destroyed by the quake, the epicentre of which was only about 50 kilometres away, an AFP team reported, with very few buildings still standing.