"When We Stepped Out onto the Street, the Buildings Around Us Had Collapsed"
Morocco's Ministry of Interior reports that a seismic event with a magnitude of 6.8 struck central Morocco, resulting in at least 1,037 fatalities and 672 injuries. A local official has noted that most of the deaths occurred in mountainous regions that are challenging to reach.
A Frenchman named Michael Bazt recounted to International News Agency that he was in his bed when the devastation struck. "I felt my bed shaking; I rushed out naked and immediately went to check on my neighbors, the traditional Moroccan houses, everything was scattered, chaos, and madness everywhere."
A woman named Dalila Fahim told Reuters, "Fortunately, I wasn't asleep at that time. According to her, her home was damaged in the earthquake.
According to Morocco's official news agency, the National Institute of Geophysics recorded a magnitude 7 earthquake late on Friday night in the province of Al-Haouz in the country's central region.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) reports that the epicenter of the earthquake was in the High Atlas Mountains, about 71 kilometers south of Marrakech, with a depth of 18.5 kilometers.
The earthquake occurred at 11:11 PM local time. A 4.9 magnitude aftershock followed 19 minutes later. The National Institute of Geophysics suggested that there could be more aftershocks in Morocco following the main earthquake.
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