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Aftershock rattles Morocco as rescuers seek survivors from the earthquake that killed over 2,100

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Residents of the Old Medina in Marrakech returned to their homes Saturday to assess the damage caused by the most powerful earthquake to hit Morocco in 120 years that killed more than 2,000 people. (Sep. 9)Videos

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BY SAM METZ AND MOSA’AB ELSHAMYUpdated 9:11 AM MST, September 10, 2023Share

AMIZMIZ, Morocco (AP) — An aftershock rattled Moroccans on Sunday as they mourned victims of the nation’s strongest earthquake in more than a century and sought to rescue survivors while soldiers and aid workers raced to reach ruined mountain villages. The disaster killed more than 2,100 people — a number that is expected to rise.

The United Nations estimated that 300,000 people were affected by Friday night’s magnitude 6.8 quake and some Moroccans complained on social networks that the government wasn’t allowing more outside help. International aid crews were poised to deploy, but some grew frustrated waiting for the government to officially request assistance.

“We know there is a great urgency to save people and dig under the remains of buildings,” said Arnaud Fraisse, founder of Rescuers Without Borders, who had a team stuck in Paris waiting for the green light. “There are people dying under the rubble, and we cannot do anything to save them.”

Help was slow to arrive in Amizmiz, where a whole chunk of the town of orange and red sandstone brick homes carved into a mountainside appeared to be missing. A mosque’s minaret had collapsed.

“It’s a catastrophe,’’ said villager Salah Ancheu, 28. “We don’t know what the future is. The aid remains insufficient.”

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