2023-09-09 01:15:22
(Casablanca) A powerful earthquake shook central Morocco during the night from Friday to Saturday, causing material damage in several cities, but the authorities did not immediately report any casualties.
Posted 7:15 p.m. Updated 8:04 p.m.
The epicenter of this earthquake, measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale according to the American Institute of Geophysics (USGS), is located southwest of the tourist city of Marrakech, 320 km to the south. of the capital Rabat.
The National Center for Scientific and Technical Research (CNRST) based in Rabat indicated that the earthquake had a magnitude of 7 degrees on the Richter scale and that its epicenter was located in the province of Al- Haouz.
According to images circulating on social networks and witnesses, the earthquake caused material damage, but the authorities did not immediately report any casualties.
Besides Marrakech, it was felt in Rabat, Casablanca and Essaouira, sowing panic among the population. Many people took to the streets of these cities, fearing the collapse of their homes, according to images posted on social networks.
In photos and videos published by Internet users, we can see significant debris of homes in the alleys of the Marrakech medina. But also cars crushed by stones.
“There is not too much damage, more panic. We heard screams at the time of the tremor. People are in the squares, in the cafes, prefer to sleep outside. There are pieces of facades that have fallen,” a resident of Essaouira, 200 km west of Marrakech, told AFP by telephone.
The earthquake was recorded shortly after 11 p.m. local time, at 6:11 p.m. (Eastern time) precisely. The depth of the earthquake was estimated at 18.5 km, according to the USGS.
The Euro-Mediterranean Seismological Center (CSEM), a scientific organization specializing in seismic activity in the Mediterranean region, for its part estimated the magnitude of this earthquake at 6.9.
On February 24, 2004, an earthquake measuring 6.3 degrees on the Richter scale shook the province of Al Hoceima, 400 km northeast of Rabat, killing 628 people and causing significant material damage.
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