Morocco Earthquake Live Updates: Death toll crosses 2,000; WHO says more than 3 lakh people affected in Marrakech

Morocco Earthquake Live Updates, 10 September 2023: Media reports said that the 12th century Koutoubia Mosque in Marrakech, one of the city’s most famed landmarks, suffered damage.

Morocco Earthquake Live Updates, 10 September 2023:  Over 2,000 people have died after a powerful earthquake struck Morocco’s High Atlas Mountains late Friday night, destroying buildings and sending people fleeing from their homes. Around 2,000 people have been injured. The World Health Organisation said more than 3 lakh people were affected in Marrakech and surrounding areas, Reuters reported.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered “all possible assistance” to Morocco, in a tweet on Saturday morning.” Extremely pained by the loss of lives due to an earthquake in Morocco. In this tragic hour, my thoughts are with the people of Morocco. Condolences to those who have lost their loved ones. May the injured recover at the earliest. India is ready to offer all possible assistance to Morocco in this difficult time,” PM Modi said.

Moroccan media reported that the 12th century Koutoubia Mosque in Marrakech, one of the city’s most famed landmarks, suffered damage, but the extent was not immediately clear, Reuters reported. Its 69-meter (226-foot) minaret is known as the “roof of Marrakech.”

Videos showing widespread damage in the quake-hit regions in Morocco have been doing the rounds on social media platforms even as people are still searching for survivors buried on the slopes, where houses of mud brick, stone and rough wood were cracked open and mosque minarets toppled by the quake that is said to be the country’s deadliest is more than six decades.

In an clip shared on the social media platform X, a woman can be seen grieving the loss of her husband and all four of her children in the quake.

Morocco struggles after rare, powerful earthquake kills and injures scores of people

Morocco has revised upward the death toll from a powerful earthquake that shook Marrakesh and surrounding regions.

The Interior Ministry said late Saturday that 2,012 people were killed when the temblor struck late Friday. The toll is expected to rise as rescuers struggled to reach hard-hit remote areas.

The ministry said the highest number of deaths were recorded in Al Haouz province, with 1,293 killed; and Taroudant, with 452.
At least 2,059 people were injured, including 1,404 critically. The government also announced three days of national mourning.

Moroccan villagers mourn after earthquake brings destruction to their rural mountain home 

The ground shook with a force few had ever felt, thundering through the remote Moroccan village in the dark of night. When the earthquake was over late Friday, the town carved into the Atlas Mountains lay in devastation — possibly dozens of dead, scores of homes crumpled, and walls reduced to rubble. 

Soon crews were listening for desperate sounds of life within the ruins of Moulay Brahim. A village of fewer than 3,000 people, Moulay Brahim attracts tourists and outdoor enthusiasts with its stunning vistas and proximity to Marrakech. 

Streets brimmed with small hotels and cafes overlooking gorges and green valleys. But after the 6.8-magnitude earthquake that killed more than 2,000 across Morocco, the scene in the village is bleak. People in the poor rural community about 45 kilometers (28 miles) northeast of the quake epicenter live in homes made of clay brick and cinder block, many of which are no longer standing or safe to inhabit. 

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Credit: THE INDIAN EXPRESS