A powerful 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck Morocco late Friday night, resulting in the death of at least 1000 individuals, as reported by the country’s Interior Ministry. The seismic event occurred at 11:11 p.m. local time, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, with shaking lasting several seconds.
Morocco’s National Seismic Monitoring and Alert Network registered the earthquake as measuring 7 on the Richter scale. An aftershock with a magnitude of 4.9 was recorded by the U.S. agency approximately 19 minutes later. Marrakech, a city with a population of nearly one million people and renowned for its historic palaces, was among the affected areas.
The last such incident was a 6.4 quake in Al Hociema, which claimed the lives of at least 600 people. In 1960, an estimated 12,000 died after an earthquake near Agadir.
Marrakech is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
