Morocco Earthquake Survivors: People Live on Streets Fearing Aftershocks

Late on Friday, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Center said that a 6.9-magnitude earthquake hit Morocco 77 kilometers (48 miles) southwest of the city of Marrakesh with a population of 839,000 people. According to the latest reports, the death toll from the disaster reached 1,300, while another 1,800 people have been injured.

People are too afraid to return to their homes, staying on the streets for fear of aftershocks of the earthquake that damaged thousands of houses, eyewitnesses of the deadly tragedy have shared with Sputnik. Some neighborhoods were completely destroyed, leaving hundreds of people dead, and thousands displaced from their homes by the damage, and entire families killed under the rubble.

“Houses that were not demolished by the earthquake were so damaged that people could not stay in them due to the extent of the damage they suffered. And hundreds of people died under their houses, which collapsed on them in a matter of seconds before they could run out into the street,” Marrakesh resident Fatima Zahra al-Rashid told Sputnik.

“There are a lot of people whose fate is unknown. [No one knows] whether they died or were injured... rescue and recovery operations are still ongoing. This is a catastrophe that defies any description," she said, adding that once everything started intensely shaking, people tried to run out of their houses, but a lot of people could not get out as the houses collapsed on them.

Another eyewitness, Ilyas Yousef, told Sputnik that “there is panic among residents of the Marrakesh region and its suburbs, many houses are seriously damaged, houses in some areas have been completely demolished, including in the Sidi Brahim area.”

He also said that on Saturday, some cities had begun sending aid to the affected areas.

“People took to the streets in all parts of Marrakesh, as well as in neighboring cities, as well as in other cities where seismic tremors also occurred, including Casablanca, Rabat and Agadir. The number of victims is likely to increase further, and the removal of the rubble continues.”

Moroccan authorities have called on citizens of the cities of Marrakesh and Demnat to urgently donate blood to save victims.