On September 8, Morocco, a Northern African country, was recently been hit by a 6.8-magnitude earthquake in the night, damaging numerous towns, and villages near the base of the Atlas Mountains, while also ripping through the center and suburbs of Marrakech. More than 300,00 citizens have been affected in Marrakech and the surrounding areas, including the southwestern Moroccan city of Taroudant, and the province of Al Houz, which lies south of Morocco at the foot of the Atlas Mountains. Reuters.com says, “… The country’s deadliest quake in more than six decades killed more than 2,000 people and laid waste to villages.”

In 1912, Morocco was made a French protectorate but ultimately regained independence in 1956 and today it is the only monarchy in North Africa. As of January 2023, Morocco’s total population size was 37.65 million. Morocco has a history of earthquakes. This recent earthquake is Morocco’s deadliest since 1980, when an earthquake hit and killed more than 12,000 people.

According to the US Geological Survey, earthquakes of this size in this region are uncommon, but not unexpected. The earthquake had a magnitude of 6.8, classifying it as “strong.” Over 2,900 people have been killed in the country’s deadly earthquake, and thousands more injured.

According to Aljazeera.com, “Earthquakes are commonly caused along the seam where two tectonic plates move against each other, and in Morocco, earthquakes mostly happen where the African and Eurasia plates meet.” In other words, this means that the earthquake happened when the African plate began to slowly slam into the Eurasian plate, and according to The Washington Post, it occurred “at a pace of only about 3.6mm a year.”

This earthquake has affected many people in Morocco and will continue to affect many others. Many efforts are being made to help, including many world leaders expressing their commiserations and offering full support to Morocco. France will give 5 million euros (5.3M) to non-governmental organizations operating in Morocco, Spain’s defense ministry sent a Spanish search and rescue team landed in Marrakech to help in the quake’s aftermath, Britain claimed it has deployed its own search and rescue specialists, rescue equipment, and a medical assessment team to Morocco, Algeria said it would reopen its airspace for humanitarian aid and medical flights going to and from the Arab nation after severing its diplomatic ties with Morocco in 2021 and closing its airspace to all places registered in Morocco, the Red Cross Society of China said it will send $200,000 in emergency humanitarian cash assistance to the Moroccan Red Crescent to support rescue and relief work, and the United Nations and US President Joe Biden said they are ready to provide assistance, and the World Bank said it has offered the country its “full support.”

Sources:

https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/09/africa/morocco-earthquake-what-we-know-intl/index.html

UPDATE: Morocco earthquake toll passes 2,800 as rescuers search for survivors

https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/what-earthquake-and-what-causes-them-happen#:~:text=The%20tectonic%20plates%20are%20always,the%20shaking%20that%20we%20feel.

https://study.com/academy/lesson/importance-of-mosques-in-the-islamic-world-features-examples.html#:~:text=Mosques%20are%20the%20heart%20of,and%20also%20for%20dispute%20settlement.

https://www.britannica.com/place/Morocco

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/9/11/what-caused-the-rare-deadly-earthquake-in-moroccohttps://www.reuters.com/world/africa/magnitude-7-earthquake-strikes-morocco-gfz-2023-09-08/

https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2023-morocco#:~:text=Morocco’s%20population%20in%202023,of%20the%20population%20is%20male.