Solar Energy News
SHAKE AND BLOW
Morocco mourns quake victims as death toll passes 2,000
Morocco mourns quake victims as death toll passes 2,000
By Kaouthar OUDRHIRI
Tafeghaghte, Morocco (AFP) Sept 10, 2023

Moroccans on Sunday mourned the victims of a devastating earthquake that killed more than 2,000 people, as rescue teams raced to find survivors trapped in the rubble of flattened villages.

The strongest-ever quake to hit the country has killed at least 2,012 people and injured over 2,059, many of them critically, according to the latest official figures.

Friday's 6.8-magnitude quake struck 72 kilometres (45 miles) southwest of the tourist hub of Marrakesh, wiping out entire villages in rural areas.

"I've lost everything", said Lahcen, a resident of the mountain village of Moulay Brahim, whose wife and four children were killed.

Rescue workers recovered the bodies of Lahcen's three daughters from the rubble of what was once their home, but have not yet found the bodies of his wife and son.

"I can't do anything about it now, I just want to get away from the world and mourn."

Troops and emergency services have scrambled to reach remote mountain villages where victims are still feared trapped.

Al-Haouz province, where the epicentre of the earthquake was located, suffered the most deaths with 1,293, followed by the province of Taroudant with 452.

- First funerals -

Bouchra, another resident of Moulay Brahim, dried her tears with her scarf as she watched men digging graves to bury the victims.

"My cousin's grandchildren are dead", she said in a knotted voice.

"I saw the devastation of the earthquake live, and I'm still shaking. It's like a ball of fire that has swallowed up everything in its path," she said.

"Everyone here has lost family, whether in our village or elsewhere in the region", she added.

Fatema Satir, a resident in Marrakesh, told AFP many were sleeping in the street for fear of their houses collapsing.

"Look where all these people are sleeping. There is no help for us, our houses have been cracked, others destroyed like my daughter's house, which was wiped out. We are in a chaotic state."

Authorities declared three days of national mourning, while several countries, including Israel, France, Spain, Italy and the United States, have offered aid.

Neighbouring Algeria, which has had rocky relations with Morocco, opened its airspace, which had been closed for two years, to flights carrying humanitarian aid and the injured.

- 'Years of aid' -

The Red Cross warned that it could take years to repair the damage.

"It won't be a matter of a week or two... We are counting on a response that will take months, if not years," Hossam Elsharkawi, the organisation's Middle East and North Africa director, said in a statement.

The village of Tafeghaghte, 60 kilometres southwest of Marrakesh, was almost entirely destroyed by the quake, the epicentre of which was only about 50 kilometres away, an AFP team reported, with very few buildings still standing.

"Three of my grandchildren and their mother are dead," said 72-year-old Omar Benhanna. "They're still under the debris. It wasn't so long ago that we were playing together."

Residents buried around 70 victims in the nearby cemetary on Saturday, as the funeral rites were punctuated by cries and screams.

In the evening, television channels broadcast aerial images showing entire villages of clay houses in the Al-Haouz region completely destroyed.

"The public authorities are still mobilised to speed up rescue operations and evacuate the injured," the interior ministry said Saturday evening.

The tremor was also felt in the coastal cities of Rabat, Casablanca, Agadir and Essaouira, where many panicked residents took to the streets in the middle of the night, fearing that their homes would collapse.

This earthquake is the deadliest in Morocco since the 1960 quake that destroyed Agadir, in which more than 12,000 people, about a third of the city's population at the time, died.

Related Links
Bringing Order To A World Of Disasters
When the Earth Quakes
A world of storm and tempest

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters
Tweet

RELATED CONTENT
The following news reports may link to other Space Media Network websites.
SHAKE AND BLOW
'It hurts my heart': Japan's Kanto massacre, 100 years on
Tokyo (AFP) Aug 31, 2023
This week Japan marks 100 years since the Great Kanto Earthquake that killed 105,000 people. Less well known is the subsequent massacre of thousands of ethnic Koreans that haunts the community to this day. Over several days of horror after the quake of September 1, 1923, mobs armed with swords, iron bars and bamboo sticks went on a killing spree of Koreans living in the Tokyo region, after malicious rumours spread about the community. Historians say that soldiers with machine guns from the imper ... read more

SHAKE AND BLOW
Making aviation fuel from biomass

Chevron, partners develop a transportation fuel using animal waste as a feedstock

Illinois research leading to cleaner propane production method

Transforming flies into degradable plastics

SHAKE AND BLOW
UN calls for age limits for AI tools in schools

Tencent claims new AI chat bot skills comparable to ChatGPT

Baidu leads public rollout of AI chatbots in China

ChatGPT turns to business as popularity wanes

SHAKE AND BLOW
UK eases effective ban on onshore wind in England

China, US lift wind turbine sales: study

Interior Department holds offshore wind energy auction for Gulf

DLR opens wind energy research farm in Krummendeich

SHAKE AND BLOW
Italy postpones regional ban on old diesel vehicles

Swedish opposition slams government tax cut on petrol

Self-driving car revolution is coming, but slowly

Modern cars are a data privacy 'nightmare' says study

SHAKE AND BLOW
Alumnus' thermal battery helps industry eliminate fossil fuels

Jeep owner Stellantis invests $100 mn in US lithium

DoE announces $112 million for research on computational projects in fusion energy sciences

US lab repeats nuclear fusion feat, with higher yield

SHAKE AND BLOW
Kazakh leader calls for rare vote on nuclear plant

Sweden to clear obstacles for new nuclear reactors

Ukraine nuclear plants fully operational for winter: operator

No explosives found on Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant roofs: IAEA

SHAKE AND BLOW
African leaders to push for finance at climate summit

Controversial plan to develop Toronto green area under review

Billions pledged for green development at Africa climate talks

Free electricity boon for Norway's two biggest cities

SHAKE AND BLOW
Deforestation in Brazil Amazon falls, more Indigenous reserves approved

Malaysia's Forest City teeters over China property giant woes

Helping or hindering? US scientists debate how to save giant sequoias

More Brazil Supreme Court judges vote on Indigenous land rights case

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.