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15 September 2023
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Major earthquake hits Morocco; current death toll is at 2 946, 5 674 were injured with scores still missing
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On 8 September 2023 at 23h11 DST an earthquake with a moment magnitude of 6,8 to 6,9 and maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent) struck Morocco's Marrakesh–Safi region. The earthquake's epicentre was located 73,4 km southwest of Marrakesh, near the town of Ighil and the Oukaïmeden ski resort in the Atlas Mountains. The earthquake was also felt in Spain, Portugal and Algeria. The focus was relatively shallow and nearby towns experienced very strong or severe shaking.
It occurred as a result of shallow oblique-thrust faulting beneath the mountain range. At least 2 946 deaths were reported, with most occurring outside Marrakesh. Damage was widespread and historic landmarks in Marrakesh were destroyed.
At least 2 946 people were killed and 5 674 were injured; 1 404 of the injured were critically hurt.
Impact
It is the strongest instrumentally recorded earthquake in Morocco; the deadliest in the country since the 1960 Agadir earthquake and the second-deadliest earthquake of 2023 after the Turkey-Syria earthquake. The World Health Organisation estimated about 300 000 people from Marrakesh and the surrounding areas were affected, including 100 000 children. Following the earthquake, many countries offered humanitarian assistance and Morocco announced a three-day period of national mourning.
Many fatalities occurred in remote locations south of Marrakesh. In Al-Haouz and Taroudant provinces, the death toll stood at 1 684 and 980, respectively. 41 people died in Ouarzazate; 202 died in Chichaoua and 18 deaths were recorded in Marrakesh. There were also fatalities in Casablanca, Agadir and Youssoufia.
In Moulay Brahim, residents became trapped under collapsed buildings and volunteers made rescue attempts. At least 40 fatalities occurred in the village.
Economic losses from the earthquake could reach up to nine-percent of Morocco's GDP, according to the USGS. At least 585 schools were damaged, seven teachers died and 39 others were injured.
Some homes in older parts of Marrakesh and portions of the city walls collapsed, leaving families trapped beneath debris.At Jemaa el-Fnaa, a minaret of the Kharboush Mosque and parts of its walls collapsed, crushing vehicles below. The Kutubiyya Mosque was also damaged. Several buildings in the Medina of Marrakesh, a UNESCO World Heritage Site dating from the 12th Century, also collapsed. Internet access was disrupted due to power cuts. The historic 12th-century Tinmel Mosque was extensively destroyed; a tower partially collapsed and walls fell. In Tinmel village itself, 15 people were killed.
The Interior Ministry said the majority of damage occurred away from cities and towns. Near the epicentre in the High Atlas, public television channel Al Aoula reported many buildings collapsed. Entire villages near the epicentre were levelled. At the earthquake's epicentre in the town of Al-Haouz, a collapsed house trapped its residents under rubble. At Amizmiz, a village near the epicentre, rescuers used their hands to sort through debris. Severe damage was reported throughout most of the town and up to 2 000 people were feared to have died there. Nearly all of the 50 traditional houses in the village of Majat were destroyed and dozens of its inhabitants were killed.
90 percent of houses in Asni were destroyed. Additional homes in towns near the epicentre collapsed partly or completely. Electricity and roads were also cut in some areas. In Essaouira, parts of facades fell off.
The towns of Tafeghaghte, Adassil and Imlil, as well as nearby villages surrounding Mount Toubkal were destroyed or severely damaged. An estimated 200 homes were destroyed in Ijoukak alone and between 80 to 100 residents, around half of its population, were killed. In Tafeghaghte, a village of 200 residents, 90 died and many remained missing. Outside Agadir, in the villages of Taqi and Tadrart, many homes were destroyed. At least 70 people died in the village of Imi N'Tala.
In the city of Taroudant, almost 200 people were killed. Several old or historic districts in the city were badly damaged. Isolated villages in the Ouirgane Valley still had no electrical and telecommunication services two days after the earthquake, while more than 30 people died in the main village. In the village of Douzrou, roughly 100 residents died. The condition in Tinzert was described as "one giant pile of rubble"; at least 22 deaths occurred.
Moroccan television reported that more than 18 000 families had been affected in Al-Haouz alone.
Some residents accused authorities of preventing them from renovating their houses, which were predominantly built with mud bricks, with cement, in order to preserve their historic value and attract tourists.
People in Marrakesh removed rubble by hand while awaiting heavy equipment. Many residents remained outdoors for fear of another earthquake. Posts on social media showed people evacuating a shopping centre, restaurants and apartment buildings. Residents of the city spent the first three nights outdoors; filling up roundabouts, car parks and a public square. Some businesses in the city reopened on 10 September as King Mohammed VI recommended commercial operations to continue. Unsafe portions of the city were sealed off by officials while tourists and locals continued to move about. In the capital Rabat, 350km north of the epicentre and at Imsouane, a coastal town, residents left their homes.
Aftermath and response
The General Secretary of the Directorate General of Internal Affairs said officials and security teams were assembling resources to supply aid and assess damage. The Moroccan army cleared one of the main roads to the worst-affected areas, allowing vital assistance to reach people. In Salé, trucks carried blankets, camp beds and lighting devices to the affected areas. Semi-trailers also carried supplies to reach these areas. Local channel 2M shared videos of emergency vehicles travelling along a dirt road.
Rescue missions were disrupted as the roads through the mountainous region were congested with vehicles and fallen rocks. Collapsed buildings made from traditional mud brick, stone and rough wood complicated lowered the chances of survival as these materials disintegrated and amalgamated. The amalgamated rubble left limited air pockets for those trapped. In Al-Haouz Province, rocks were removed from roads to enable ambulances and aid to reach the affected areas. A highway in the Atlas Mountains, congested with ambulances, taxis and Red Cross members, was used to treat the injured; the severely wounded were transported to a hospital in Marrakesh. In remote areas that were difficult to access, the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces used helicopters to supply basic needs.
There was a surge in wounded people admitted to hospitals in Marrakesh. Injured people from outside Marrakesh also began to trickle into the city to get treatment. An appeal was made to the city's residents for blood donations. In the morning of 9 September, roughly 200 people, including tourists, visited a hospital to donate blood. Among those who donated were the Moroccan national football team. The initiative amassed 6 000 bags of blood within a day of the campaign launch. Damage assessments in Marrakesh revealed most of the city was relatively undamaged.
King Mohammed VI, who was reportedly in France at the time of the earthquake, authorised the deployment of the Royal Moroccan Army in various affected cities in order to help. He also declared three days of national mourning and ordered the creation of a relief commission to provide survivors with aid, and the opening of special bank accounts to allow donations. Following a meeting with the King on 11 September, Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch, in his first remarks on the disaster, said that the government was committed to funding rebuilding and compensating those affected. The King himself visited the Marrakesh University Hospital on 12 September, with state media saying that he met with earthquake victims and donated blood. On 14 September, the monarchy announced that 50 000 houses had been damaged by the earthquake and pledged shelter and 30 000 dirhams ($3 000) to affected households, as well as reconstruction aid of 140 000 dirhams for collapsed homes and 80 000 for damaged ones.
The Army set up a field hospital in Moulay Brahim. Rescue personnel used heavy equipment to recover survivors and bodies from debris. Survivors from the village began digging graves on a hill to bury the dead. A large tent was set-up in the village to house the homeless. Operations at Marrakesh Airport remained normal but two Ryanair flights from Marrakesh to Brussels and Beauvais, France that were scheduled for 9 September were cancelled. British Airways replaced its regular aircraft to Marrakesh with a larger one to carry British nationals requesting repatriation.
The Red Cross announced the recovery could take years; several villages near the epicentre in the remote mountainous region were completely flattened and/or inaccessible, with the paucity of infrastructure such railways, roads and hospitals vis-à-vis the north of the country hampering relief efforts.[
International response
Spain, India, Algeria, Argentina, France, Germany, Iran, Israel, the Philippines, Portugal, Pakistan, Romania, Taiwan, Thailand, Oman, Turkey, Kuwait, the United Kingdom, the United States, the European Union and the United Nations offered to provide assistance and support to Morocco. The Netherlands released €5 million in emergency aid, while the Red Cross Society of China gave the Moroccan Red Crescent $200 000 for emergency humanitarian assistance. The European Commission pledged 1 million euros to support relief efforts. Aerospace company Boeing announced a $300 000-donation to the American Red Cross and CARE International. Other world leaders offered condolences.
The 18-hour delay for King Mohammed VI to make an official announcement on the earthquake received criticism socially. There was also criticism of the government's delay in making an official request for assistance and that more external aid was not allowed. Frustration also grew among international aid groups on standby as they had not received formal requests. The Moroccan government did not formally ask for foreign assistance, however, they accepted aid from Qatar, Spain, United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. Officials said they have only approved the offer of four countries because "a lack of coordination could be counterproductive". They added that other offers may be approved when there is a need.
Benoît Payan, the mayor of Marrakesh's sister city Marseille, France, announced that he was sending firefighters to Morocco to help with rescue operations. The President of the Regional Council of Île-de-France Valérie Pécresse sent $535 000 in aid. The French Embassy in Morocco [fr] opened a crisis unit hotline. A rescue crew was sent from Nice, while communities across the country offered more than 2 million euros in aid. The French government released 5 million euros in aid for NGOs operating in Morocco.
Arnaud Fraisse, head of Secouristes Sans Frontières (Rescuers Without Borders), said its teams were prevented by Moroccan authorities from entering the country on 10 September. On 10 September, Minister for Digital Affairs Jean-Noël Barrot said that all French mobile phone operators had begun offering free calls and text messages to Morocco.
In Belgium, a public memorial service for the victims of the earthquake was held in the city centre of Antwerp on 12 September, during which the Moroccan national anthem was played and a minute of silence for the dead was conducted.
A six-men rescue team and four rescue dogs from De Rips in the Netherlands flew from Brussels to help on the search and rescue operations in the request of local residents. The town of Hilversum donated €20 000 to the victims. The Dutch Red Cross also launched a relief drive called Giro 6868 to help the victims, with about €3,8 million worth of aid being received.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and King Abdullah II of Jordan ordered their governments to send aid to Morocco, while the United Arab Emirates's president Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan ordered the establishment of an air bridge to transport relief aid and other support, as did Saudi Arabia. Sultan Haitham bin Tarik of Oman ordered rescue teams and medical aid to be sent to Morocco on 10 September. On 12 September, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi declared three days of national mourning for the victims of the earthquake as well as those of Storm Daniel in Libya on 10 and 11 September.
Algeria, for the first time since 2021, opened its airspace to Morocco to facilitate the arrival of humanitarian aid. The following day, Algeria proposed an 80-member specialised civil protection intervention team.
Spain placed its Military Emergencies Unit, its other aid agencies and its embassy in Rabat at Morocco's disposal. Two Spanish Air Force aircraft carrying 86 soldiers and eight search dogs were flown to Marrakesh after the Moroccan government made a bilateral appeal.
The Czech Republic announced it was ready to send about 70 members of a rescue team, including nine doctors, after receiving an official request from the Moroccan government. Czech Defence Minister Jana Černochová said three military planes were prepared to transport the team.
The International Charter on Space and Major Disasters was activated by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) on behalf of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) to provide for wide, albeit contingent, humanitarian satellite coverage.
On 9 September, a team of 50 paramedics and personnel from Tunisia arrived. The team also brought search dogs, thermal imaging devices, a drone and field hospital.
A Qatari rescue team arrived in Morocco on 11 September.
UNESCO experts visited the Medina of Marrakesh on 9 September to take a first look at the damage. The organisation said it would provide support according to the needs expressed, with Director General Audrey Azoulay specifying "whether it is a matter of surveying the damage in the fields of heritage and education, making buildings safe or preparing for reconstruction".
Sources: Euro News, BBC News, Wikipedia, CNN, Science Media Centre
It occurred as a result of shallow oblique-thrust faulting beneath the mountain range. At least 2 946 deaths were reported, with most occurring outside Marrakesh. Damage was widespread and historic landmarks in Marrakesh were destroyed.
At least 2 946 people were killed and 5 674 were injured; 1 404 of the injured were critically hurt.
Impact
It is the strongest instrumentally recorded earthquake in Morocco; the deadliest in the country since the 1960 Agadir earthquake and the second-deadliest earthquake of 2023 after the Turkey-Syria earthquake. The World Health Organisation estimated about 300 000 people from Marrakesh and the surrounding areas were affected, including 100 000 children. Following the earthquake, many countries offered humanitarian assistance and Morocco announced a three-day period of national mourning.
Many fatalities occurred in remote locations south of Marrakesh. In Al-Haouz and Taroudant provinces, the death toll stood at 1 684 and 980, respectively. 41 people died in Ouarzazate; 202 died in Chichaoua and 18 deaths were recorded in Marrakesh. There were also fatalities in Casablanca, Agadir and Youssoufia.
In Moulay Brahim, residents became trapped under collapsed buildings and volunteers made rescue attempts. At least 40 fatalities occurred in the village.
Economic losses from the earthquake could reach up to nine-percent of Morocco's GDP, according to the USGS. At least 585 schools were damaged, seven teachers died and 39 others were injured.
Some homes in older parts of Marrakesh and portions of the city walls collapsed, leaving families trapped beneath debris.At Jemaa el-Fnaa, a minaret of the Kharboush Mosque and parts of its walls collapsed, crushing vehicles below. The Kutubiyya Mosque was also damaged. Several buildings in the Medina of Marrakesh, a UNESCO World Heritage Site dating from the 12th Century, also collapsed. Internet access was disrupted due to power cuts. The historic 12th-century Tinmel Mosque was extensively destroyed; a tower partially collapsed and walls fell. In Tinmel village itself, 15 people were killed.
The Interior Ministry said the majority of damage occurred away from cities and towns. Near the epicentre in the High Atlas, public television channel Al Aoula reported many buildings collapsed. Entire villages near the epicentre were levelled. At the earthquake's epicentre in the town of Al-Haouz, a collapsed house trapped its residents under rubble. At Amizmiz, a village near the epicentre, rescuers used their hands to sort through debris. Severe damage was reported throughout most of the town and up to 2 000 people were feared to have died there. Nearly all of the 50 traditional houses in the village of Majat were destroyed and dozens of its inhabitants were killed.
90 percent of houses in Asni were destroyed. Additional homes in towns near the epicentre collapsed partly or completely. Electricity and roads were also cut in some areas. In Essaouira, parts of facades fell off.
The towns of Tafeghaghte, Adassil and Imlil, as well as nearby villages surrounding Mount Toubkal were destroyed or severely damaged. An estimated 200 homes were destroyed in Ijoukak alone and between 80 to 100 residents, around half of its population, were killed. In Tafeghaghte, a village of 200 residents, 90 died and many remained missing. Outside Agadir, in the villages of Taqi and Tadrart, many homes were destroyed. At least 70 people died in the village of Imi N'Tala.
In the city of Taroudant, almost 200 people were killed. Several old or historic districts in the city were badly damaged. Isolated villages in the Ouirgane Valley still had no electrical and telecommunication services two days after the earthquake, while more than 30 people died in the main village. In the village of Douzrou, roughly 100 residents died. The condition in Tinzert was described as "one giant pile of rubble"; at least 22 deaths occurred.
Moroccan television reported that more than 18 000 families had been affected in Al-Haouz alone.
Some residents accused authorities of preventing them from renovating their houses, which were predominantly built with mud bricks, with cement, in order to preserve their historic value and attract tourists.
People in Marrakesh removed rubble by hand while awaiting heavy equipment. Many residents remained outdoors for fear of another earthquake. Posts on social media showed people evacuating a shopping centre, restaurants and apartment buildings. Residents of the city spent the first three nights outdoors; filling up roundabouts, car parks and a public square. Some businesses in the city reopened on 10 September as King Mohammed VI recommended commercial operations to continue. Unsafe portions of the city were sealed off by officials while tourists and locals continued to move about. In the capital Rabat, 350km north of the epicentre and at Imsouane, a coastal town, residents left their homes.
Aftermath and response
The General Secretary of the Directorate General of Internal Affairs said officials and security teams were assembling resources to supply aid and assess damage. The Moroccan army cleared one of the main roads to the worst-affected areas, allowing vital assistance to reach people. In Salé, trucks carried blankets, camp beds and lighting devices to the affected areas. Semi-trailers also carried supplies to reach these areas. Local channel 2M shared videos of emergency vehicles travelling along a dirt road.
Rescue missions were disrupted as the roads through the mountainous region were congested with vehicles and fallen rocks. Collapsed buildings made from traditional mud brick, stone and rough wood complicated lowered the chances of survival as these materials disintegrated and amalgamated. The amalgamated rubble left limited air pockets for those trapped. In Al-Haouz Province, rocks were removed from roads to enable ambulances and aid to reach the affected areas. A highway in the Atlas Mountains, congested with ambulances, taxis and Red Cross members, was used to treat the injured; the severely wounded were transported to a hospital in Marrakesh. In remote areas that were difficult to access, the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces used helicopters to supply basic needs.
There was a surge in wounded people admitted to hospitals in Marrakesh. Injured people from outside Marrakesh also began to trickle into the city to get treatment. An appeal was made to the city's residents for blood donations. In the morning of 9 September, roughly 200 people, including tourists, visited a hospital to donate blood. Among those who donated were the Moroccan national football team. The initiative amassed 6 000 bags of blood within a day of the campaign launch. Damage assessments in Marrakesh revealed most of the city was relatively undamaged.
King Mohammed VI, who was reportedly in France at the time of the earthquake, authorised the deployment of the Royal Moroccan Army in various affected cities in order to help. He also declared three days of national mourning and ordered the creation of a relief commission to provide survivors with aid, and the opening of special bank accounts to allow donations. Following a meeting with the King on 11 September, Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch, in his first remarks on the disaster, said that the government was committed to funding rebuilding and compensating those affected. The King himself visited the Marrakesh University Hospital on 12 September, with state media saying that he met with earthquake victims and donated blood. On 14 September, the monarchy announced that 50 000 houses had been damaged by the earthquake and pledged shelter and 30 000 dirhams ($3 000) to affected households, as well as reconstruction aid of 140 000 dirhams for collapsed homes and 80 000 for damaged ones.
The Army set up a field hospital in Moulay Brahim. Rescue personnel used heavy equipment to recover survivors and bodies from debris. Survivors from the village began digging graves on a hill to bury the dead. A large tent was set-up in the village to house the homeless. Operations at Marrakesh Airport remained normal but two Ryanair flights from Marrakesh to Brussels and Beauvais, France that were scheduled for 9 September were cancelled. British Airways replaced its regular aircraft to Marrakesh with a larger one to carry British nationals requesting repatriation.
The Red Cross announced the recovery could take years; several villages near the epicentre in the remote mountainous region were completely flattened and/or inaccessible, with the paucity of infrastructure such railways, roads and hospitals vis-à-vis the north of the country hampering relief efforts.[
International response
Spain, India, Algeria, Argentina, France, Germany, Iran, Israel, the Philippines, Portugal, Pakistan, Romania, Taiwan, Thailand, Oman, Turkey, Kuwait, the United Kingdom, the United States, the European Union and the United Nations offered to provide assistance and support to Morocco. The Netherlands released €5 million in emergency aid, while the Red Cross Society of China gave the Moroccan Red Crescent $200 000 for emergency humanitarian assistance. The European Commission pledged 1 million euros to support relief efforts. Aerospace company Boeing announced a $300 000-donation to the American Red Cross and CARE International. Other world leaders offered condolences.
The 18-hour delay for King Mohammed VI to make an official announcement on the earthquake received criticism socially. There was also criticism of the government's delay in making an official request for assistance and that more external aid was not allowed. Frustration also grew among international aid groups on standby as they had not received formal requests. The Moroccan government did not formally ask for foreign assistance, however, they accepted aid from Qatar, Spain, United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. Officials said they have only approved the offer of four countries because "a lack of coordination could be counterproductive". They added that other offers may be approved when there is a need.
Benoît Payan, the mayor of Marrakesh's sister city Marseille, France, announced that he was sending firefighters to Morocco to help with rescue operations. The President of the Regional Council of Île-de-France Valérie Pécresse sent $535 000 in aid. The French Embassy in Morocco [fr] opened a crisis unit hotline. A rescue crew was sent from Nice, while communities across the country offered more than 2 million euros in aid. The French government released 5 million euros in aid for NGOs operating in Morocco.
Arnaud Fraisse, head of Secouristes Sans Frontières (Rescuers Without Borders), said its teams were prevented by Moroccan authorities from entering the country on 10 September. On 10 September, Minister for Digital Affairs Jean-Noël Barrot said that all French mobile phone operators had begun offering free calls and text messages to Morocco.
In Belgium, a public memorial service for the victims of the earthquake was held in the city centre of Antwerp on 12 September, during which the Moroccan national anthem was played and a minute of silence for the dead was conducted.
A six-men rescue team and four rescue dogs from De Rips in the Netherlands flew from Brussels to help on the search and rescue operations in the request of local residents. The town of Hilversum donated €20 000 to the victims. The Dutch Red Cross also launched a relief drive called Giro 6868 to help the victims, with about €3,8 million worth of aid being received.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and King Abdullah II of Jordan ordered their governments to send aid to Morocco, while the United Arab Emirates's president Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan ordered the establishment of an air bridge to transport relief aid and other support, as did Saudi Arabia. Sultan Haitham bin Tarik of Oman ordered rescue teams and medical aid to be sent to Morocco on 10 September. On 12 September, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi declared three days of national mourning for the victims of the earthquake as well as those of Storm Daniel in Libya on 10 and 11 September.
Algeria, for the first time since 2021, opened its airspace to Morocco to facilitate the arrival of humanitarian aid. The following day, Algeria proposed an 80-member specialised civil protection intervention team.
Spain placed its Military Emergencies Unit, its other aid agencies and its embassy in Rabat at Morocco's disposal. Two Spanish Air Force aircraft carrying 86 soldiers and eight search dogs were flown to Marrakesh after the Moroccan government made a bilateral appeal.
The Czech Republic announced it was ready to send about 70 members of a rescue team, including nine doctors, after receiving an official request from the Moroccan government. Czech Defence Minister Jana Černochová said three military planes were prepared to transport the team.
The International Charter on Space and Major Disasters was activated by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) on behalf of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) to provide for wide, albeit contingent, humanitarian satellite coverage.
On 9 September, a team of 50 paramedics and personnel from Tunisia arrived. The team also brought search dogs, thermal imaging devices, a drone and field hospital.
A Qatari rescue team arrived in Morocco on 11 September.
UNESCO experts visited the Medina of Marrakesh on 9 September to take a first look at the damage. The organisation said it would provide support according to the needs expressed, with Director General Audrey Azoulay specifying "whether it is a matter of surveying the damage in the fields of heritage and education, making buildings safe or preparing for reconstruction".
Sources: Euro News, BBC News, Wikipedia, CNN, Science Media Centre
