A 6.8 magnitude earthquake shook Morocco, 80 km southwest of Marrakech, overnight from Friday to Saturday, reported the American Geophysical Institute (USGS). While damage was reported, authorities did not immediately report any casualties.
The earthquake was recorded at 11:11 p.m. local time. The depth of the earthquake was estimated at 18.5 km, according to the USGS. The Euro-Mediterranean Seismological Center (CSEM), a scientific organization specializing in seismic activity in the Mediterranean region, for its part estimated the magnitude of this earthquake at 6.9.
No assessment was immediately available, but there is damage in Marrakech, with buildings partially collapsed, according to videos shared on social networks.
Our journalist Mathilde Ceilles, present in Agadir, 130 km from the epicenter, had “never felt a shock like that”, which “briefly cut off the light”. At 1:00 a.m., no one was sleeping, fearing an aftershock, even though the 1960 earthquake, with a magnitude of 5.7, had killed nearly 12,000 people.