Morocco: Powerful earthquake death toll climbs to 822

At least 822 people were killed and 672 were wounded, including 205 in critical condition, in the powerful earthquake that rocked Friday night Morocco, according to an updated interior ministry toll.

Casualty figures are expected to rise as the search continues and as rescuers reach remote areas. It is the strongest tremor to hit the North African Kingdom in more than a century.

A 7-magnitude quake struck the country’ High Atlas Mountain at 11:11 p.m. local time at the relatively shallow depth of 18.5 km with the epicentre located about 72 km southwest of Marrakech, a popular tourist destination.

Local authorities and security and civil protection services in all cities and provinces concerned mobilized immediately to provide the necessary assistance and assess the damage and upon the high instructions of King Mohammed VI, Supreme Commander and Chief of General Staff of the Royal Armed Forces (FAR), the Royal Armed Forces urgently deployed late on Friday, following the earthquake, significant human and logistical air and land resources, as well as specialized search and rescue teams and a field hospital.

The necessary arrangements have been made at the level of the FAR General Staff and all FAR headquarters throughout the Kingdom, in terms of liaison and coordination with local authorities, the FAR General Staff said in a press release.
Intervention detachments, planes, helicopters, drones and engineering resources as well as logistics centres are deployed to provide the necessary support to the various departments concerned and to the affected populations, the FAR said.

Authorities also called on people to donate blood to help victims. Most deaths occurred in mountainous areas close to the epicentre that were hard to reach after the roads were damaged by the quake.

Moroccans in several cities across the kingdom stayed outside their homes fearing aftershocks.

In 1960, a magnitude 5.8 tremor struck near the Moroccan city of Agadir and caused thousands of deaths. The Agadir quake prompted changes in construction rules in Morocco, but many buildings, especially rural homes, are not built to withstand such tremors.
In 2004, a 6.4 magnitude earthquake near the Mediterranean coastal city of Al Hoceima left more than 600 dead. Friday’s quake was felt as far away as Portugal and neighboring Algeria.