(Dan Tri) – A 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck the High Atlas mountains of Morocco late on September 8, killing at least 296 people and collapsing many buildings.
Scene of ruins during the earthquake in Marrakech, Morocco on September 9 (Photo: Reuters).
Morocco’s Interior Ministry said this was the preliminary death toll and 153 others were also injured.
Residents of Marrakech, the closest major city to the epicenter and a UNESCO World Heritage site, said some buildings there had collapsed.
Citing unnamed local sources, Pan-Arab news channel al-Arabiya reported that five people from one family were killed.
Map of earthquake location (Graphic: Reuters).
Montasir Itri, a resident of the mountain village of Asni near the epicenter, said most houses in this area were damaged.
Further west, near Taroudant, teacher Hamid Afkar said he had to run away from home.
`The ground shook for about 20 seconds. The door opened and closed by itself when I jumped down from the second floor,` he said.
Morocco’s geophysical center said the earthquake occurred in the Ighil area of the High Atlas mountains with a magnitude of 7.2.
Ighil, a mountainous area with small farming villages, is about 70km southwest of Marrakech.
CNN quoted the US Geological Survey as saying this was the largest earthquake in more than a century to occur in the epicenter area in Morocco.
In Marrakech, several houses in the crowded old city collapsed.
People gathered in Casablanca on September 9 after a strong earthquake in Morocco (Photo: Reuters).
A Marrakech resident, Mr. Brahim Himmi, said he saw ambulances running out of the old town and many building facades were damaged.
Another woman, Dalila Fahem, said her house had some cracks and furniture was damaged.
According to Reuters witnesses, people in Rabat, about 350 km north of Ighil, and in the coastal town of Imsouane, about 180 km west, also had to leave their homes because of fears of the quake.