Rescue and ambulance teams are racing against time to locate survivors of last week’s earthquake near the Moroccan city of Marrakesh, which has thus far claimed the lives of thousands.

Entire villages in the Al-Haouz Province have been obliterated, and scores of people have lost their homes and sources of income.

Up until Tuesday morning this week, the casualty count had surpassed 2,400 people, with many more individuals sustaining injuries or being displaced.

According to the Associated Press, the UN estimates that approximately 300,000 people have been affected by the earthquake that struck Marrakesh and the Al-Haouz Province last Friday evening.

There are 100 rescue teams comprising 3,500 personnel registered on the UN humanitarian aid and relief platform awaiting a request from Morocco to assist in rescue operations.

The earthquake, described by the Moroccan Institute of Geophysics as the most powerful in a century and registered at 6.8 on the Richter scale, was reminiscent of the 1960 Agadir earthquake that claimed the lives of a third of the city’s population and led to its subsequent reconstruction.

The epicentre of the earthquake was located in the Atlas Mountains, 70 km south of Marrakesh, a region known for its picturesque valleys, lakes, and rugged mountains with their distinctive red rocks.

Al-Haouz, like other North African regions, has been grappling with an unprecedented drought, resulting in reduced river and lake levels and in some cases with sources of water complete drying up. This has had a detrimental impact on agriculture, a crucial economic activity in a region that is also a major tourist destination.

The earthquake shook most regions of Morocco and was even felt in neighbouring Algeria, as reported by the Algerian Institute of Geophysics.

Marrakesh holds a significant place in Morocco’s history as one of its oldest capitals since the arrival of Islam in the country in the 7th century CE. To many Arabs, Morocco is even synonymous with Marrakesh.

The city and its surroundings boast several UNESCO World Heritage Sites that have been listed since 1985. These include the iconic Koutoubia Mosque, the Al-Fnaa Mosque Square with its bustling food vendors, snake charmers, storytellers, and historic cafés, and the palaces constructed by the Almohad sultans of Morocco after the 11th century CE.

Founded in 1070, Marrakesh has endured numerous challenges over the years, including terrorist attacks on the Atlas Asni Hotel in 1994 and the Arjana Café in 2011, which had significant impacts on tourism in the city and its vicinity.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the city’s most vital sector of tourism saw an 80 per cent decline, with the Marrakesh Regional Council estimating losses at around $20 billion.

Photographs of the aftermath of last week’s earthquake published by international news agencies show extensive destruction within the old city that covers an area of 700 hectares. Part of the historic city walls, erected after the 12th century, suffered partial cracking.

Following an inspection of the damage in Marrakesh, Eric Falt, regional director of the UNESCO office in the Maghreb, said that the damage was more extensive than initially anticipated.

Large cracks were observed in the minaret of the Koutoubia Mosque, and the minaret of the Kharboush Mosque in Al-Fnaa Square was nearly completely destroyed.

The historic Mellah neighbourhood was particularly affected, he added.

Morocco has accepted offers of assistance from four countries; Britain, Spain, Qatar, and the UAE, in response to the earthquake, as announced by the Moroccan Ministry of the Interior.

The Moroccan authorities said that these nations have proposed deploying search-and-rescue teams to find survivors. The ministry said that it is “open to additional offers of support from other friendly countries” if need be, asserting that it welcomes all support initiatives.

Spain has dispatched a team of 56 paramedics to Morocco to aid the local authorities in search-and-rescue operations. The paramedics belong to the military emergency unit, a division of the armed forces specialising in rapid response to emergency situations such as forest fires, floods, and earthquakes.

Spain is also preparing to send a relief team led by the regional government in Madrid.

The Spanish Ministry of Defence said that an A400 military plane took off from the Zaragoza Base in the northeast of the country heading to Marrakesh with a team of paramedics to assist in search-and-rescue operations.

Additionally, a humanitarian flight took off from the Al-Udeid Air Base near Doha in Qatar, also heading to Marrakesh to provide assistance.

MORE ASSISTANCE

Several countries, including the US, France, and Switzerland, have offered assistance to Morocco following the earthquake.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on the US ABC Network that the US Agency for International Development was ready to provide assistance once the Moroccan government identified its specific needs.

French President Emmanuel Macron also expressed his country’s readiness to provide assistance and noted that French technical and security teams were on standby for deployment as soon as the Moroccan authorities requested them.

A team of French volunteer firefighters has already arrived from Leon in Morocco to participate in rescue operations about 50 km from Marrakesh. The team has 300 kg of equipment and is accompanied by a trained dog unit.

The French People’s Relief Organisation announced that many of its officials would visit Morocco on Monday on “a mission of solidarity and an allocation of 100,000 euros to help the victims and extend an appeal for donations.”

Switzerland has offered temporary shelters, water treatment and distribution equipment, sanitation facilities, and hygiene items. Swiss humanitarian aid experts are prepared to deliver this equipment, pending a response from the Moroccan authorities.

The Swiss Foreign Ministry said that until Saturday night they had not received a response from the Moroccan side.

The Belgian Ministry of Defence announced on Saturday the activation of its emergency aid coordination service abroad to respond to the Moroccan authorities’ requests for assistance. This includes field and mobile hospitals equipped with emergency response gear and medical teams.

In Belgium itself, the region of Flanders, home to a significant Moroccan community, pledged emergency aid totalling 200,000 euros through the Red Cross. The French-speaking region of Wallonia in the southern part of the country also committed to providing immediate aid worth 500,000 euros to the disaster victims.

Italy offered assistance from its Civil Defence Authority and fire brigades, while Turkey proposed sending 265 rescue personnel along with 1,000 tents.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki expressed his readiness to provide necessary assistance, including a rescue team, emphasising the enormous scale of the tragedy in Morocco.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed Shaya Al-Sudani said that Iraq was “prepared to provide any form of assistance to Morocco.” Jordan’s King Abdullah II has ordered his government to “offer all necessary support” to the country.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, headquartered in Geneva, has allocated one million Swiss francs ($1.1 million) from its Disaster Emergency Response Fund to aid the Moroccan Red Crescent’s field operations.

It stressed on Saturday the importance of not overlooking Morocco’s future needs, emphasising the importance of the next 24 to 48 hours and the needs that will persist for months or even years.

Following the G20 Summit in New Delhi, Macron, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Comoros President Ghazali Osmani (whose country currently chairs the African Union), as well as representatives from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Commission, signed a joint declaration pledging to provide all necessary assistance for immediate and long-term needs and for reconstruction efforts.

The Moroccan Ministry of National Education has announced the suspension of classes in 42 school districts in the earthquake-affected regions, effective on Monday.

The government has also initiated a project to establish a “special fund for managing the aftermath of the earthquake in the Kingdom of Morocco,” which will be open to receive donations.

The fund’s objectives include covering expenses related to rebuilding destroyed homes, providing assistance to vulnerable individuals, especially orphans and those in fragile situations, and addressing the immediate needs of people left without shelter due to the earthquake, including housing, food, and basic necessities.

While waiting for foreign rescue teams to arrive, the Moroccan authorities have begun setting up tents in the High Atlas region, where entire villages were devastated by the earthquake.

Moroccan television channels have been broadcasting aerial footage since Saturday, revealing villages some of which have been entirely devastated. They include the village of Taggart situated approximately 50 km from the earthquake’s epicentre about 60 km southwest of Marrakesh.

Following the widespread destruction, the city of Marrakesh has witnessed solidarity campaigns aimed at assisting affected and injured individuals. The initiatives have focused on blood donations, with many local residents visiting hospitals to offer their support. Additionally, food aid collections have been organised by civil-society organisations.

“We’re collecting food to help the areas affected by the earthquake,” Ibrahim Nachit, one of the coordinators of the initiative, told AFP. The association is also planning to send a “medical caravan” to the worst-hit areas.

“I think the food supplies collected today should be able to support at least 100 families for a week,” said Abdel-Latif Razouki, vice-president of the campaign.

Recovery efforts in Morocco will require ongoing aid and support to address the extensive effects of the earthquake, which may take several months to overcome, he added.

* A version of this article appears in print in the 14 September, 2023 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly