Habitants of the earthquake struck city of Marrakech, in Morocco, reported unbearable screams following the powerful seismic activity Friday night.
The quake reportedly caused widespread panic and damaged buildings across cities, with an ever-growing number of victims.
“At around 11:11pm exactly, there was an earthquake here in Marrakech, which appears to have reached 6.8 on the Richter scale in the commune of Ighil at a depth of 8 km. It was an atrocious experience,” explained Driss Talbi, teacher.
Hospitals in the city are reportedly handling a massive influx of injured people.
African News report of Videos of individuals gathered outside amid the debris also surfaced online as victims spent the night in the open, fearing the aftershocks.
“The force and intensity of this earthquake was felt in our building almost 3 times. People went out into the street just after this total panic, and there are families who are still sleeping outside because we were so scared of the force of this earthquake. It was as if a train was passing close to our houses, that’s the feeling we had,” added Faisal Baddour, state engineer.
Taking to the internet, people shared videos of the devastation that the country witnessed during the earthquake.
Tremors were reportedly felt in the capital Rabat, as well as the coastal cities of Casablanca and Essaouira.
“After our dinner, my wife and I went out into the street for a walk and just after we felt a tremor under our feet. My wife thought it was a helicopter or something, but I told her it was an earthquake, and suddenly people were running in all directions in the streets,” related Moulay Hafid Mouddan, civil servant.
According to local authorities, the provisional toll has reached nearly 700 dead.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, host of this weekend’s G20 summit in New Delhi, expressed his condolences to the families of the earthquake victims, saying in a message on X (formerly Twitter) that he was “extremely saddened by the loss of life”.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also sent a message of condolence after the “devastating” earthquake, referring to the “terrible news from Morocco”.
On 24 February 2004, an earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale shook the province of Al Hoceima, 400 km north-east of Rabat, killing 628 people and causing extensive material damage.
And on 29 February 1960, an earthquake destroyed Agadir, on the country’s west coast, killing more than 12,000 people – a third of the city’s population.
