Morocco earthquake: Powerful 6.8 magnitude earthquake strikes Morocco, at least 296 killed

A powerful earthquake hit Morocco with a magnitude of 6.8 on Friday night, at least 296 people, the country’s Interior Ministry said as reported by Associated Press. Residents in Marrakech, the nearest major city to the epicentre, said that some structures in the old city, a UNESCO World Heritage site, had collapsed. A local television broadcast showed pictures of a fallen mosque minaret with rubble lying on smashed cars.

According to the United States Geological Survey, the earthquake struck after 11 p.m. local time.

The aftershock, which was claimed to have occurred 19 minutes later and had a magnitude of 4.9 by the US agency, was detected by Morocco's National Seismic Monitoring and Alert Network at 7 on the Richter scale.

September 8, 2023

Although there are always variations in early measures, either reading would represent Morocco's strongest in years. In North Africa, earthquakes are rare. According to AP, a magnitude 5.8 earthquake that occurred close to Agadir in 1960 claimed thousands of lives.