RABAT, Morocco (AP) — Morocco’s government said the death toll in a rare, powerful earthquake around Marrakech more than doubled Saturday morning to 632 dead and 329 injured as authorities assess the damage.
Much like other earthquakes, casualty figures appear to be rising as the extent becomes more clear in rural and hard-to-reach areas.
Emergency workers looked for survivors in the rubble of buildings, their reflective yellow vests illuminating the nighttime landscape. The quake ripped a gaping hole in a home, and a car was nearly buried by the chunks of a collapsed building.Other images shared online showed people running and screaming near the 12th century Koutoubia Mosque in Marrakech, one of the city’s most famed landmarks. Moroccan media reported that the mosque suffered damage, but the extent was not immediately clear.
Abderrahim Ait Daoud, head of the town of Talat N’Yaaqoub, said authorities are working to clear roads in Al Haouz Province to allow passage for ambulances and aid to populations affected, but said large distances between mountain villages mean it will take time to learn the extent of the damage. A U.N. spokesperson said that “the United Nations is ready to assist the government of Morocco in its efforts to assist the impacted population.”
The USGS said the epicenter was 18 kilometers below the Earth’s surface, while Morocco’s seismic agency put it at 11 kilometers down. Such shallow quakes are more dangerous.
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