At least 296 people killed after powerful 6.8-magnitude earthquake rattles Morocco, officials say

A powerful earthquake that struck Morocco late Friday night killed at least 296 people, the country’s Interior Ministry said.  

Moroccans posted videos showing buildings reduced to rubble and dust and parts of the famous red walls that surround the old city in historic Marrakech, a UNESCO World Heritage site, damaged. Tourists and others posted videos of people screaming and evacuating restaurants in the city as throbbing club music played.

Reports on damage and any casualties can often take time to filter in after many earthquakes, particularly those that hit in the middle of the night.

Rather than return to the buildings, men, women and children stayed out in the streets worried about aftershocks and other reverberations that could cause their homes to sway.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake had a preliminary magnitude of 6.8 when it hit at 11:11 p.m. local time, with shaking that lasted several seconds. Morocco’s National Seismic Monitoring and Alert Network measured it at 7 on the Richter scale. The U.S. agency reported a magnitudue-4.9 aftershock hit 19 minutes later.

The epicenter of Friday’s tremor was high in the Atlas Mountains roughly 43.5 miles south of Marrakech. It was also near Toubkal, the highest peak in North Africa and Oukaimeden, a popular Moroccan ski resort.

The USGS said the epicenter was 11 miles below the Earth’s surface, while Morocco’s seismic agency put it at 5 miles down.

Variations in early measurements are common, although either reading would be Morocco’s strongest in years.   

In 2004, at least 628 people were killed and 926 injured when a quake hit Al Hoceima in northeastern Morocco, according to the Agence France-Presse. In 1980, the 7.3-magnitude El Asnam earthquake in neighboring Algeria was one of the largest and most destructive earthquakes in recent history, AFP reported. It killed 2,500 people and left at least 300,000 homeless.