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6.8 Morocco Earthquake

RayKalm

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Powerful earthquake strikes Morocco, damaging buildings and sending people into the streets​

A powerful earthquake has struck Morocco, damaging buildings in major cities and sending panicked people pouring into streets and alleyways from Rabat to Marrakech

People take shelter outside their homes after an earthquake in Rabat, Morocco, Friday, Sept. 8, 2023. A powerful earthquake struck Morocco late Friday, damaging buildings in major cities and sending panicked people pouring into streets and alleyways from Rabat to Marrakech. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)

People take shelter outside their homes after an earthquake in Rabat, Morocco, Friday, Sept. 8, 2023. A powerful earthquake struck Morocco late Friday, damaging buildings

RABAT, Morocco -- A powerful earthquake struck Morocco late Friday, damaging buildings in major cities and sending panicked people pouring into streets and alleyways from Rabat to Marrakech. There was no immediate word on any casualties, nor any reports from government officials on the tremor's impact.

Moroccans posted videos showing some buildings turned to rubble. Tourists and others posted videos of people evacuating restaurants in Marrakech as throbbing club music played.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake had a preliminary magnitude of 6.8 when it hit at 11:11 p.m. Morocco's National Seismic Monitoring and Alert Network measured it at 7 on the Richter scale.

Variations in early measurements are common, although either reading would be Morocco's strongest in years. Though earthquakes are relatively rare in North Africa, a magnitude 5.8 tremor struck near Agadir and caused thousands of deaths in 1960.

The epicenter of Friday's tremor was high in the Atlas Mountains south of Marrakech and west of Oukaimeden, a popular Moroccan ski resort. It was also near Toubkal, the highest peak in North Africa.

MAP, Morocco’s official news agency, had not published any information about the earthquake as of early Saturday.
 
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Reuters: A 7-magnitude earthquake shakes Morocco

Moroccan Geophysical Institute:
The earthquake that struck #Morocco at dawn today is the most violent in 100 years.


National Institute of Geophysics: The main tremor was followed by hundreds of aftershocks, the strongest reaching around 6 degrees.

Statement of the Ministry of Interior: The number of deaths has risen to 632

A surveillance camera documents the horrific first moments of the earthquake that struck a number of cities in #Morocco with a magnitude of 7 on the Richter scale.

US Geological Survey: The area affected by the Moroccan earthquake reached 600 square kilometers

US Geological Survey: The Morocco earthquake was at a depth of 18.5 km

The American Embassy in Morocco warns of a tsunami on the coast of Morocco. Citizens must be warned, especially since a number of them went to the beach for shelter.

Number of victims: 632
Number of wounded: 329
Serious injuries 51

By royal orders, various intervention and rescue crews and means were mobilized for the Royal Armed Forces, the Royal Air Force, the Royal Gendarmerie, the Civil Defense, and the central and decentralized territorial departments in the various affected areas.
 
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British newspaper: The force of the Al Haouz earthquake is equivalent to 30 nuclear bombs

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The British newspaper The Sunday Times published an article by Bill McGuire, professor of geophysics and climate risks at University College London, in which he stated that the strength of the Al Haouz earthquake was approximately equivalent to the force of 30 nuclear bombs similar to those dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima in August 1945.

In this regard, Badr Safraoui, professor of geology at Moulay Ismail University in Meknes and an expert in stratigraphy, stated to a Moroccan website: Indeed, the energy emitted from the Al Haouz earthquake, whose epicenter was identified in the Iguil community and whose strength reached 7 degrees on the Richter scale, is equivalent to the explosive force of 32 nuclear bombs, such as those that were dropped on the city of Hiroshima during World War II.

Al-Safrawi added that the energy emitted from the earthquake increases with its strength. For example, an earthquake with a magnitude of 6 on the Richter scale is equivalent to one Hiroshima bomb, while the energy emitted from an earthquake with a magnitude of 8 is equivalent to the energy generated by the explosion of 1,024 nuclear bombs.

He said that the Al Haouz earthquake is classified as a very strong earthquake, noting that it is quite natural for earthquakes of this type to be followed by aftershocks resulting from the pressure generated by the split tectonic plates trying to return to their natural place, adding that in most cases the intensity of aftershocks is less. From the first shock.

The expert in stratigraphy also stressed that geologists can identify seismically active areas through which faults and ground fissures pass, which are candidates for aftershocks, such as the Al Hoceima and Agadir region. However, it is scientifically impossible to predict the timing of these tremors, because scientific progress in the geological field and in the world as a whole has not yet reached this level.

He also explained that aftershocks can continue over time and may extend for days, weeks, or even months.

The Al Haouz region witnessed a violent earthquake measuring 7 degrees, which has so far left nearly 3,000 victims in the villages and towns of Al Haouz and Taroudant.


https://telexpresse.com/278329.html
 
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I still haven't heard a logical explanation for why only a tiny fraction of the international offers of experienced and well equipped rescue and medical teams and the like were accepted.

Turkey for instance during its recent terrible earthqake was happy to have teams from all over the world and still the huge combined effort was dwarfed by the sheer scale of the tragedy.

Why didn't Morocco accept all but a very few of the offers? Wouldn't it have saved more lives and helped more of those who suffered?
 
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