- The earthquake occurred on Friday night, and according to the latest data, more than 2,000 deaths and other injuries, most of them very serious. All “emergency services” are doing rescue work and recall that Monday will be decisive, as from 72 hours the possibility of surviving the population under the waste is considerably reduced.
Thousands of citizens sleep on the street fearing more aftershocks from the earthquake. On Friday at 23:11 the 6.9-degree earthquake on the Richter scale hit Morocco and since then the population has been living in an emergency situation. At least 2,122 deaths and 2,421 injured, of which 1,404 have been “very serious”, according to the latest data from the Moroccan Ministry of the Interior. The Moroccan Institute of Geophysics has stated that they have been “hundreds of replicas”, but not as strong as the former.
The epicenter of the earthquake took place in Ighil, 70 kilometres south of Marrakech, in the province of Al Haouz. According to official data, those affected have been: Al Haouzen 1.293, Tarudanten 452, Txitxauan 191, Uarzazate 41, Marrakech 15, Azilalen 11, Agadir 5, Cassofcan 3, and Al Yussufian and one Tingir. According to the World Health Organization, more than 300,000 people have been affected by the earthquake.
The Moroccan Government launched “immediately” all emergency services and assistance following the earthquake. They continue to work in the rescue and warn that Monday will be decisive in saving people caught between the remains of the homes and buildings shot down, given that they are about to spend 72 hours of the earthquake. However, the inhabitants of the affected villages complain that aid is not forthcoming, according to journalist Mikel Ayestaran: the people themselves are taking the bodies of their relatives out of the waste with the help of neighbours and volunteers.
International aid
Hospitals are full of wounded, so at Mohamed VI Hospital in Casablanca they opened a blood transfusion center and called to donate blood to people over 18 years of age. International aid is being provided to Morocco and several NGOs have opened up the possibility of donating. The Algerian Government has reopened airspace to channel aid, and despite the conflicting relationship between the two governments, they have allowed aid in the disaster.
However, the Government has only at present authorized aid from Spain, the United Kingdom, the Arab Emirates and Qatar. Several international rescue teams await the approval of the Moroccan Government to leave. Certain actors stress that it is necessary to ensure that the resources offered reach citizenship.
In the Atlas Mountains, the movement between tectonic plates is normal, but there are no earthquakes the size of Friday. Experts say it has been the cause of the greatest disaster in recent decades.