MOROCCAN HOMES OF MASONRY & STONE LIKELY TO RAISE EARTHQUAKE TOLL

 MOROCCAN HOMES OF MASONRY & STONE LIKELY TO RAISE EARTHQUAKE TOLL

ONE OF MOST DEADLIEST EARTHQUAKE IN HISTORY

CLOSE TO THE 6.8 MAGNITUDE EARTHQUAKE’S REMOTE EPICENTRE NEARLY ALL THE BUILDINGS TRADITIONAL STRUCTURES OF MUD BRICK STONE AND ROUGH WOODEN BEAMS HAD SUSTAINED DAMAG E FROM THE EARTHQUAKE.

MOUNTAIN VILLAGES HARD TO REACH

12^TH CENTURY MOSQUE DAMAGED 

 A rare, powerful earth quake struck Morocco on friday night, sending people rac ing from their beds into the darkened streets and toppling buildings in mountainous villages and ancient cities not built to withstand such force.

 Updated interior ministry figures on Saturday showed the quake killed at least 1007 people, the vast majority in Al- Haouz, the epicentre, and Ta roundant provinces.

Marrakech's famous Koutoubia Mosque, built in the th century was damaged, but the extent was not immediately clear. Its 69metre minaret is known as the "roof of Marrakech”. Moroccans posted videos showing damage to parts of the famous red walls that surround the old city, a UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE.

The epicentre of tremor was near the town of Ighil in Al Haouz Province, 70 kilo metres south of Marrakech. Al Haouz is known forscenic villages and valleys tucked in the High Atlas, and villages built into mountainsides. Ab derrahim Ait Daoud, head of the town of Talat N'Yaaqoub, told news site 2M that authoritles were working to clear roads in Al Haouz Province to allow passage for ambulances and aid to the affected, but said large distances between mountain villages meant it would take time to learn the extent of the damage.

 

 As per the correspondent reporter,

STRONG TREMORS felt in the coastal cities of Rabat, Casablanca and Essaouira. "I was nearly asleep when I heard the doors and the shutters banging," said Ghannou Najem, a Casablanca resident in her 80s who was visiting Marrakesh when the quake hit. In the mountain village of Moulay Brahim near the quake's epicentre, rescue teams searched for survivors in the rubble of collapsed houses while residents began digging graves on a nearby hill. The army set up a field: hospital in the village and deployed "significant human and logistical resources" to had support the rescue operation.

The road from Marrakech rises up into the High Atlas, was the worst hit of any Reuters journalists saw in rural areas south of Marrakech where officials said most of the more than 1,000 deaths had occurred.

HELP AND SUPPORT FROM ALGERIA

Algeria suspends ban, opens airspace

 President  said on saturday,that Algeria will allow aircraft carrying humanitarian aid to quake-hit Morocco to pass through its airspace,  suspending a two-year ban on flights to its regional rival. Algeria closed its airspace to all Moroccan aircraft in September, 2021 after having cut diplomatic ties with its longtime foe. Despite the rivalry between the North African neighbours, Algerian authorities were "fully prepared to provide humanitarian aid and mobilise all material and human resources in solidarity with the brotherly Moroccan people upon request from the Kingdom of Morocco", the statement said.