AMIZMIZ, Morocco — Aftershocks rocked Moroccans on Sunday as they prayed for victims of the country’s strongest earthquake in more than a century and scrambled to rescue survivors while soldiers and workers brought water and supplies to desperate mountain villages under rubble. .
The disaster killed more than 2,000 people — a number expected to rise.
The United Nations estimated 300,000 people were affected by Friday night’s magnitude 6.8 earthquake and some Moroccans complained on social networks that the government was not allowing more outside aid.
International aid crews have been prepared to deploy, but are waiting for the Moroccan government to request their help.
“We know there is an urgent need to rescue people and dig under the remains of buildings,” said Arnaud Fraisse, founder of Rescue Without Borders, which has a team stuck in Paris waiting for the green light. “There are dead people under the rubble, and we can’t do anything to save them.”
Help was slow to arrive in Amizmiz, where most of the city of orange brick and red sandstone carved into the mountainside appeared to be gone.
“It’s a disaster,” said villager Salah Ancheu, 28. “We don’t know what the future holds. Aid is still not enough.”
A building in a village near Marrakech, Morocco is destroyed by an earthquake on September 9, 2023. AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy
Residents swept away all the rubble from the main unpaved road leading into town and aid crews began to arrive but pleaded for more help.
“There is no ambulance, no police, at least for now,” Ancheu said.
Those left homeless – or fearing more aftershocks – slept outside on Saturday, on the streets of the ancient city of Marrakech or under makeshift canopies in Atlas Mountain towns like Moulay Brahim, among the worst hit.
The worst of the destruction occurred in small communities outside the city that were difficult for rescuers to reach because the roads through the mountainous area were covered by fallen rocks.
Massive earthquake kills at least 2,000 people.AP PhotoMark Carlson
The area was shaken again Sunday by a magnitude 3.9 aftershock, according to the US Geological Survey.
It’s unclear whether it caused more damage or casualties, but it was likely strong enough to rattle nerves in areas where the damage destabilized buildings and residents feared aftershocks.
Friday’s earthquake toppled buildings that weren’t strong enough to withstand such strong tremors, trapping people in the rubble and sending others fleeing in fear.
A total of 2,012 people were confirmed dead and at least 2,059 others were injured – 1,404 of them critically, the Interior Ministry reported on Saturday.
Residents of the village of Moulay Brahim fled their destroyed homes. AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy
“We felt a big tremor like doomsday,” said resident Moulay Brahim Ayoub Toudite. “Ten seconds and it’s all gone.”
Flags were lowered across Morocco, as King Mohammed VI ordered three days of national mourning starting Sunday.
The army deployed a special search and rescue team, and the king ordered water, food rations and shelter to be provided to those displaced.
He also called for the mosque to hold Sunday prayers for the victims, most of whom were buried on Saturday amid the busy rescue work nearby.
People comfort each other while digging for donations for victims in the village of Ouargane, near Marrakech.AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy
Aid offers have poured in from around the world and the UN says it has a team in Morocco coordinating how international partners can provide support.
About 100 teams comprising a total of 3,500 rescuers are registered with the UN platform and are ready to be deployed in Morocco when asked, said Rescue Without Borders.
In a sign that Morocco may be ready to accept more outside help, the Spanish military said it had sent an air force plane carrying an urban search and rescue team of 56 soldiers and four dogs to Marrakech. Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said in a radio interview that the deployment was in response to a request for help from the Moroccan authorities.
Another rescue team from Nice, France, is also on its way.
A car destroyed in the earthquake was left on the road near the village of Ijjoukak. AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy
In France, home to many people with links to Morocco, towns and cities offered more than $2.1 million in aid, and popular entertainers rallied to collect donations.
The epicenter of Friday’s earthquake was near the town of Ighil in Al Haouz Province, about 44 miles south of Marrakech. The region is famous for its beautiful villages and valleys located in the High Atlas Mountains.
About 28 miles northeast of the epicenter, a collapsed wall exposed the damaged interior of a house, and piles of rubble blocked a hallway.
In Moulay Brahim, a poor rural community of fewer than 3,000 people, many houses made of clay bricks and cinder blocks have been destroyed or are no longer safe.
People inspect the damage in Jamaa el Fna square in Marrakesh.AP PhotoMark Carlson
Destruction enveloped every town along the steep and winding High Atlas roads, with houses piled on top of themselves and people weeping as boys and helmeted police carried bodies through the streets.
“I was sleeping when the earthquake hit. I couldn’t escape because the roof fell on me. I am trapped. I was saved by my neighbor who cleared the rubble with his bare hands,” said Fatna Bechar in Moulay Brahim. “Now, I live with them in their house because mine is completely destroyed.”
Hamid Idsalah, a 72-year-old mountain healer, said he and many other survivors have no future to look forward to because they lack the financial resources to recover.
Rescue teams backed by the military and police searched for victims in collapsed houses in the remote town of Adassil, near the epicenter.
Military vehicles brought in bulldozers and other equipment to clear the road of rocks that had collapsed on the mountainside, state news agency MAP reported.
The Spanish military’s emergency search and rescue unit boarded a plane at a base in Zaragoza to help rescue efforts in Morocco. Spain’s Ministry of Defense, via AP
Ambulances took dozens of injured from the village of Tikht, population 800, to the Mohammed VI University Hospital in Marrakech.
In Marrakech, where authorities were assessing the damage, large chunks were missing from corrugated roofs, and warped metal, crumbling concrete and dust were all that remained of buildings cordoned off by police tape.
Tourists and residents lined up to donate much-needed blood. Jalila Guerina said she ran to help when she learned of the need because of her job as a Moroccan.
“I don’t think twice about it,” he told The Associated Press, “especially in a situation where people are dying, especially right now when they need help, any help.”
In the market, feral cats climb piles of stones and wooden bars, but buyers are rarely found at stalls set up under umbrellas by food and souvenir sellers.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
