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The earthquake struck late Friday night, with the epicentre 75 kilometres west of Marrekesh, a significant financial centre.
A strong 6.8 magnitude earthquake has shocked Morocco, sending pulses from the town of Rabat within the north to Sidi Ifni within the south and past.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) estimates that the epicentre of the quake occurred close to the ski resort of Oukaïmedene within the Atlas Mountains, some 75 kilometres (44 miles) from Marrakesh, the fourth largest metropolis within the nation.
The earthquake came about shortly after 11pm native time (22:00 GMT) on Friday night, in response to the USGS.
No instant reviews of casualties or widespread devastation have been out there. However movies and pictures shared on social media confirmed clouds of mud and piles of rubble, as partitions buckled underneath the drive of the quake.
Different posts depicted shocked residents working for security, out of native buildings and onto the road.
One Marrakesh resident, Brahim Himmi, advised the Reuters information company that he noticed ambulances leaving the town’s historic previous city. He additionally stated that constructing facades had been broken because the earth shook.
“There’s not an excessive amount of injury, extra panic. We heard screams on the time of the tremor,” a resident of Essaouira advised the information company AFP. “Persons are within the squares, within the cafes, preferring to sleep outdoors.”
Whereas earthquakes within the area are “unusual however not sudden”, one among this magnitude has not been seen within the area in over 120 years.
“Since 1900, there have been no earthquakes M6 [magnitude 6] or bigger inside 500 km of this earthquake, and solely 9 M5 [magnitude 5] and bigger,” the USGS stated on its web site.
Most of these earlier earthquakes occurred additional to the east as properly, the company added.
Friday night’s earthquake was a comparatively shallow one, occurring at a depth of 18.5 km (11.5 miles). The USGS defined that “oblique-reverse faulting” within the Atlas Mountains have been the reason for the quake.
🚨 URGENT
Les premières vidéos des dégâts du séisme commencent à être publiées ! 😥🇲🇦
— TFT MOROCCO (@TFT_Morocco) September 8, 2023
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