AGADIR, Morocco — Boujemaa Kouti still remembers the screams of her neighbors trapped under the rubble of their homes, asking for help that horrible night 63 years ago.
He was just 8 years old and sleeping when a huge earthquake hit Morocco in 1960, wiping out entire neighborhoods in the coastal city of Agadir, near the Atlas Mountains, and killing at least 12,000 people.
“I saw stars when I woke up,” Kouti said, and then heard “people shouting ‘Save me!’ —Calling his family.”
Kouti’s older brother died and the Kouti family lived in tents for almost a year as Agadir was mostly rebuilt in a nearby location considered safer.
The Agadir Oufella, a 16th century fortress partially damaged by the earthquake, was restored over time.
Now, Moroccans face a new challenge in the nearby Atlas Mountains: how to rebuild the once picturesque villages destroyed by the powerful earthquake that devastated the region on September 8, killing 3,000 people.
Agadir was largely spared this time, but possibly hundreds of thousands of people, according to estimates, are still living in tents in devastated villages across the Atlas Mountains, waiting for reconstruction to begin; many others have sought refuge with relatives. Recent rains and flooding have further exposed them to vulnerable living conditions as they wait for authorities to act.
The Government has committed to spending around $11.8 billion to rebuild and repair the homes of some 4.2 million Moroccans over the next five years. At the same time, officials are weighing how best to restore the cultural heritage of a region that is also an important part of the country’s tourism industry.
In the Atlas Mountains, traditional architecture had long endured, with picturesque flat-roofed houses, built of mud and stone bricks mixed with straw, clustered in spectacular landscapes that attracted visitors.
Many of those structures collapsed due to the force of the earthquake, but also because seismic standards implemented 20 years ago were often not followed.
Experts like Amine Kabbaj, a Marrakesh-based architect, say it is difficult to enforce regulations in rural areas where people rarely have the chance to hire architects or engineers. This can lead to a lack of foundation and inadequate protection.
Salima Naji, an architect and anthropologist who led the Oufella fortress restoration project and has also promoted traditional forms of construction in the Atlas Mountains, agrees. “The recent hasty constructions do not respect any rules; “Companies, contractors and builders work quickly and poorly,” she stated.
Naji also strongly advocates the use of materials and techniques that reflect local customs and address climate challenges. While modern methods are necessary to protect buildings from earthquakes, he said, they can be combined with ancient techniques.
The Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco, a national cultural institution, has consulted experts from different disciplines on how the use of traditional materials for reconstruction can help preserve Morocco’s heritage.
Kouti, 71, is the custodian of the Ihchach cemetery, where many victims were buried.
The cemetery is located on a hill that was once a neighborhood of Agadir. Not much remains: a few trees, a disused hospital and the ruins of collapsed houses.
Kouti said he was asleep when the earthquake hit in September.
“I wasn’t afraid,” he said. “I’ve experienced that before.”
By: AIDA ALAMI
BBC-NEWS-SRC: http://www.nytsyn.com/subscribed/stories/6996784, IMPORTING DATE: 2023-11-22 21:40:07
#heritage #housing #odds #Morocco