A 6.8 magnitude earthquake shakes the Moroccan region of Marrakech

taketonews

A 6.8 magnitude earthquake shook the northern region this Friday Moroccan from Marrakechwithout it being known at the moment if there have been victims or material damage.

The tremor has been felt from the city of Marrakech to the capital, Rabat, according to the Moroccan portal Yabiladi, which has described the phenomenon as “violent.”

The earthquake has had its epicenter in the town of Ighil, located 63 kilometers southwest of the city of Marrakech, at a depth of 8 kilometers, the bulletin indicates.

According to witnesses contacted by EFE, the tremor was felt in northern towns such as Larache, 550 kilometers from the epicenter, as well as in Casablanca and Rabat, 300 and 370 kilometersrespectively, where its inhabitants took to the streets to prevent a possible second earthquake.

Sofía Catalá, a Spaniard living in the center of Marrakech, explained to EFE that during the earthquake “the ground began to move as in a bombardment“I thought the building was falling, now everyone is on the street in their pajamas,” he added.

Minutes after the earthquake, from the street, this same witness indicated that, due to the shaking, all the residents of her building came out and that railings and other objects fell from the balconies, but she added that she did not see any buildings around her with significant damage.

Said, a resident of Casablanca, has confirmed to the same agency that he felt the earthquake. “It wasn’t very strong, but it lasted 15 seconds without stopping. I immediately called my family in Marrakech and it was strong there, even my sister-in-law fainted from shock,” he explained by phone.

Although no official toll of material or human damage has been announced, Internet users shared photos and videos of houses damaged or partially demolished in the old neighborhood of Marrakech, supposedly due to the earthquake.

Some accounts on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, showed they felt tremors. Videos posted on the platform showed people running into the streets and buildings shaking.

According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), which records seismic activity around the world, the earthquake occurred at 11:11 p.m. local time (00:11 GMT Saturday) at a depth of 18.5 kilometers.

It is noticeable in Andalusia

Emergencies 112 Andalusia has registered around twenty calls from the provinces of Huelva, Seville, Malaga and Jaén by the Moroccan earthquake.

112 has received calls that, in all cases, alert that there have been earthworks in the aforementioned provinces, no damage reported for the moment on Andalusian soil apart from the shock of the citizens.

Frequent earthquakes

Morocco experiences frequent earthquakes in its northern region due to its position between African and Eurasian plates.

Related news

In 2004, at least 628 people were killed and 926 injured when an earthquake hit Al Hoceima, in the northeast of the country.

In 1980, the 7.3 magnitude El Asnam earthquake in neighboring Algeria was one of the most destructive earthquakes in contemporary history. It left 2,500 dead and at least 300,000 homeless.



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