CCTV captures moment earthquake strikes busy Marrakech street
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Rescuers are racing the clock to find survivors in the rubble more than 48 hours after Morocco's deadliest earthquake in more than six decades.
More than 2,800 people were killed in a disaster that devastated villages in the High Atlas Mountains.
Aftershocks will continue to rock Morocco weeks or months, a seismological expert has warned. Remy Mossu, the director of the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre, told Sky News that more than 25 aftershocks have already hit the country since the 6.8 magnitude earthquake.
“There will be aftershocks. It is not probably, it is a certainty,” he said.
Some villagers say they are struggling to find enough space to bury their dead as funerals can take place beside rescue work. Others are preparing extra graves ready for more bodies, even as rescue operations continue.
Morocco’s King Mohammed VI has thanked Spain, Qatar, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates for sending aid, with the UK government set to send 60 search and rescue specialists and four search dogs to Morocco.
The damage from the quake could take several years to repair, according to the Red Cross.
How can I support victims of the Morocco earthquake?
Thousands have been affected following an earthquake in Morocco on Friday 8 September that has devastated rural communities in the Atlas Mountains.
Mountainside villages in the epicentre, Al Haouz province (44 miles south of Marrakech), were destroyed and many have lost their lives. Some 2,476 people have been injured and the death toll has risen to 2,500 as a result of the 6.8 magnitude earthquake.
Natalie Wilson reports on how you can help:
Few buildings left standing in Tikekhte
In Tikekhte, where few buildings have been left standing, 66-year-old Mohamed Ouchen described how residents rescued 25 people - one of whom was his sister.
"We were busy rescuing. Because we didn’t have tools, we used our hands," he said. "Her head was visible and we kept digging by hand."
Footage from the remote village of Imi N’Tala, filmed by Spanish rescuer Antonio Nogales of the aid group Bomberos Unidos Sin Fronteras (United Firefighters Without Borders), showed men and dogs clambering over steep slopes covered in rubble.
"The level of destruction is ... absolute," said Nogales on Monday, struggling to find the right word to describe what he was seeing. "Not a single house has stayed upright."
Despite the scale of the damage, he said rescuers searching with dogs still hoped to find survivors.
The epicentre of the quake was about 72 km (45 miles) southwest of Marrakech, where some historical buildings in the old city, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, were damaged. The quake also did major damage to the historically significant 12th-century Tinmel Mosque.
Tinmel village pulverised by quake
In the village of Tinmel, almost every house was pulverised and the entire community has been left homeless. The stench of death from dozens of animals buried under the rubble wafts through parts of the village.
Mouhamad Elhasan, 59, said he had been eating dinner with his family when the earthquake struck. His 31-year-old son fled outside and was hit as their neighbour’s roof collapsed, trapping him under the rubble.
Elhasan said he searched for his son as he cried for help. But eventually the cries stopped, and by the time he reached his son he was dead. Elhasan and his wife and daughter remained inside their home and survived.
"If he had stayed inside the house he would have been ok," Elhasan said.
In Tinmel and in other villages residents said they had pulled people out of the rubble with their bare hands.
A man walks near Tinmel Mosque, which was damaged by the deadly earthquake, in Tinmel, Morocco
ICYMI - ‘I know I’m lucky to be alive’: Morocco travel insider says country will rebuild tourism in wake of earthquake
The British man who has done more than anyone else to build tourism in Morocco’s Atlas Mountains says he is “lucky to be alive” after he was caught up in Friday’s catastrophic earthquake.
But some students attending the schools in the area he helped to establish have died.
Simon Calder reports:
Number of missing unknown
With much of the quake zone in hard-to-reach areas, authorities have not issued any estimates for the number of missing.
The earthquake, Morocco’s deadliest in more than six decades, has claimed the lives of nearly 2,800 people and a similar number of wounded, many of them seriously. However, authorities have not yet revealed the number of missing.
Search teams from Britain, Spain and Qatar have joined efforts to find people buried under the rubble, including in some of the remote villages in the High Atlas mountains close to the epicentre of the quake.
British tourists had to sleep on streets after Morocco earthquake, husband says
Two British tourists slept on the streets of a village in the Atlas mountains – unable to contact their families following a devastating earthquake in Morocco, one of their husbands has said.
Rebecca Calvert, 63, and friend Hilary Mckegney, 64, had just arrived in the remote village of Imlil in the Atlas Mountains to go on a hiking trip when the earthquake struck.
The magnitude 6.8 tremor late on Friday damaged buildings from villages in the Atlas Mountains to the historic city of Marrakesh.
The official death toll from the earthquake was more than 2,800 people by Sunday evening.
Morocco wedding interrupted by 6.8-magnitude earthquake
A powerful earthquake interrupted a wedding in Morocco on Friday, 8 September.
Footage from Marrakech shows musicians abandoning the stage and fleeing through a doorway as people scream.
More than 2,000 people have died after the earthquake struck late on Friday and thousands have spent three nights sleeping in the streets following the disaster.
The UK is set to send 60 search and rescue specialists and four search dogs to Morocco.
Damage could take several years to repair, according to the Red Cross.
Morocco wedding interrupted by 6.8-magnitude earthquake
A powerful earthquake interrupted a wedding in Morocco on Friday, 8 September. Footage from Marrakech shows musicians abandoning the stage and fleeing through a doorway as people scream. More than 2,000 people have died after the earthquake struck late on Friday and thousands have spent three nights sleeping in the streets following the disaster. The UK is set to send 60 search and rescue specialists and four search dogs to Morocco. Damage could take several years to repair, according to the Red Cross.
Race against time to find survivors of Morocco earthquake as death toll nears 2,800
Rescuers face a race against time to find survivors of the deadly earthquake in Morocco, with international search and rescue personnel arriving to help the search almost 72 hours after the disaster.
The earthquake, Morocco’s deadliest in more than six decades, has claimed the lives of nearly 2,700 people and a similar number of wounded, many of them seriously.
Search teams from Britain, Spain and Qatar have joined efforts to find people buried under the rubble, including in some of the remote villages in the High Atlas mountains close to the epicentre of the quake.
“The level of destruction is... absolute,” said Spanish rescuer Antonio Nogales. “Not a single house has stayed upright.”
“We’re going to start our search with dogs and see whether we can find anyone alive,” he said in video footage he filmed in the village of Imi N’Tala, about 45 miles (72km) from Marrakech.
‘I know I’m lucky to be alive’: Morocco travel insider says country will rebuild tourism in wake of earthquake
The British man who has done more than anyone else to build tourism in Morocco’s Atlas Mountains says he is “lucky to be alive” after he was caught up in Friday’s catastrophic earthquake.
But some students attending the schools in the area he helped to establish have died.
Mike McHugo is a visionary entrepreneur who transformed an ancient fort 60km south of Marrakech into a sought-after eco-lodge known as the Kasbah du Toubkal. It is located in the foothills of North Africa’s highest mountain, Toubkal, above the village of Imlil.
He was in bed in the property at 11.11pm on Friday when the earthquake struck.
“I was woken up and I knew instantly it was an earthquake. I was in a room with my brother and I knew we couldn’t get out because we’re in a downstairs bedroom and stuff was falling around. I just told him to get under the bed or close to the bed.
Morocco travel advice: Is it safe to travel to Marrakech right now?
The epicentre was about 70km (43 miles) southwest of Marrakech – the fourth-biggest city in Morocco, and by far the most popular draw for international visitors.
Thousands of British holidaymakers are in the area, with many thousands more booked to go there during September. This is the travel picture:
https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiZWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmluZGVwZW5kZW50LmNvLnVrL25ld3Mvd29ybGQvYWZyaWNhL21vcm9jY28tZWFydGhxdWFrZS1hcHBlYWwtbWFycmFrZWNoLW1hcC1iMjQwOTY0Mi5odG1s0gEA?oc=5
2023-09-12 06:27:45Z
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