Morocco Earthquake: Death toll rises above 2000

According to the Associated Press and other media, the Moroccan government said Sunday that more than two-thousand people were killed in the magnitude six-point-eight quake that hit Marrakesh and many towns on Friday night, with a similar number injured.

September 10, 2023 1 Min Read

Updated 2023/09/10 at 8:02 AM

epaselect epa10851583 The army recovers the corpses of earthquake victims, in Tafeghaghte, Morocco, 09 September 2023. A powerful earthquake that hit central Morocco late 08 September, killed 1,037 people and injured more than 1,200 others, the country's Interior Ministry announced on 09 September cited by public television. The earthquake, measuring magnitude 6.8 according to the USGS, damaged buildings from villages and towns in the Atlas Mountains to Marrakesh. EPA-EFE/JALAL MORCHIDI

The death toll from a powerful earthquake in the North African nation of Morocco has soared to over two thousand.

According to the Associated Press and other media, the Moroccan government said Sunday that more than two-thousand people were killed in the magnitude six-point-eight quake that hit Marrakesh and many towns on Friday night, with a similar number injured.

The epicenter was reportedly in the High Atlas Mountains, 71 kilometers south-west of Marrakesh, a city with world heritage status.

The death toll is expected to rise further as the quake took place in mountainous areas and rescuers struggled to reach hard-hit remote areas.

The United States Geological Survey said that residents in the region are mostly living in buildings vulnerable to earthquakes.

According to Moroccan authorities, the quake was Morocco’s deadliest earthquake since a massive tremor in Agadir killed thousands of people in 1960.