MOROCCO EARTHQUAKE KILLS OVER 800 PEOPLE, DESTROYS HISTORIC SITES

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At least 820 people have been killed in Morocco’s deadliest earthquake in decades, according to officials on Saturday. The earthquake caused widespread damage and sending terrified residents and tourists scrambling to safety in the middle of the night.

The 6.8-magnitude quake struck a mountainous area 72 kilometres (45 miles) southwest of tourist hotspot Marrakesh at 11:11 pm (2211 GMT) Friday, the US Geological Survey reported.

Strong tremors were also felt in the coastal cities of Rabat, Casablanca and Essaouira.

“We felt a very violent tremor, and I realised it was an earthquake,” Abdelhak El Amrani, 33, told AFP by telephone from Marrakesh.

“I could see buildings moving,” said Amrani who went outside, joining many other people, “all in shock and panic. The children were crying and the parents were distraught.”

It was the most powerful quake to ever hit the country, and one expert called it the region’s “biggest in more than 120 years”.

“Where destructive earthquakes are rare, buildings are simply not constructed robustly enough… so many collapse, resulting in high casualties,” said Bill McGuire, professor emeritus at Britain’s University College London.

Updated interior ministry figures on Saturday showed the quake killed 820 people, more than one-third of them in Al-Haouz, the epicentre, and Taroudant provinces.

The ministry also recorded deaths in Ouarzazate, Chichaoua, Azilal and Youssoufia provinces, as well as in Marrakesh, Agadir and the Casablanca area.