The toll, still provisional, of a strong earthquake that hit Morocco is very serious. The local National Institute of Geophysics recorded a magnitude 7.0 with its epicenter in the municipality of Ighil, south of Marrakech. The depth of the earthquake was 8 kilometers. The images are devastating. The toll provided by the Ministry of the Interior is worsening hour by hour: the victims would be 632, 329 injured. Of these, around fifty are in serious condition.
The seismographs recorded the tremor at 11.11pm on Friday 8 September. The tremor was felt along the entire Atlas ridge, in Merzouga, one of the gateways to the desert, Taroudant, Essaouira and Agadir and on the other side of the mountain range in Casablanca, up to Rabat. The wave-like movement lasted about 30 seconds.
Buildings suddenly crumbling, people running into the streets, dozens of improvised beds in the square, people digging by hand through the rubble. The Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, today in New Delhi for the G20 Summit, learned with pain the tragic toll of the devastating earthquake that hit Morocco”. This was reported in a note from Palazzo Chigi. “Meloni – she explains – you expressed closeness and solidarity to Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch, to the families of the victims and to the Moroccan people, demonstrating Italy’s full availability to support Morocco in this emergency”.
The budget is destined to worsen. The villages dotting the Atlas are very poor, often have no internet connection and the houses are built with the characteristic pisé wall, made of straw, mud and stones. Great fear especially in the medina of Marrakech, where the most fragile parts of the walls surrounding the historic center have collapsed. Some homes have collapsed, in Jamaa el Fna square the minaret of a small mosque near the historic ‘Café de France’ collapsed.
Damage was reported in the kasbah of Marrakech and house collapses in the north-east area. In the new city there are cracks in the bell tower of the Catholic church of Gueliz. Collapses of facades in Essaouira, on the Atlantic Ocean and in Ouarzazate, in the central South. Thousands poured into the streets of the new city of Marrakech and the alleys of the medina, in panic. Electricity and internet connection were missing for a long time. The switchboard of the Italian embassy in Rabat has received numerous calls, especially from tourists asking to return home.
“I am close to Morocco because of the tragic earthquake that has sown death and destruction. Italy is ready to help the Moroccan authorities in these difficult moments, including for the rescue phases”, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani wrote on social media, sending his prayers “for the victims and their families”.
Meanwhile, the Farnesina is monitoring the situation. “Following the earthquake in the Atlas area, the Farnesina, with the Italian Embassy in Morocco and the Consulate General of Italy in Casablanca, are monitoring the situation and are in contact with the local authorities. For any emergency or report you can contact the Crisis Unit on +39 06 36225,” the Farnesina wrote on Twitter.
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