At least 820 people have died and another 672 have been injured after the earthquake that hit Morocco on Friday night.
Moroccan state television reported the death toll on Saturday, citing the Interior Ministry. Of the injured, 205 were in critical condition.
Six provinces, including Al Haouz, Ouarzazate, Marrakech, Azilal, Chichaoua and Taroudant, were affected by the earthquake, the Interior Ministry said in a televised statement, calling for calm.
Residents have fled to the streets fearing for their lives. The earthquake destroyed buildings, cars, among others.
“The Royal Armed Forces, local authorities, security services and civil protection… continue to mobilize and leverage all means and capabilities to intervene, provide necessary assistance and assess damage,” Aljazeera quoted the Interior Ministry as saying. .
According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the magnitude 6.8 earthquake near Oukaïmedene, Morocco, occurred due to a shallow reverse oblique fault within the Moroccan High Atlas mountain range, approximately 75 km southeast of Marrakesh.
Earthquakes are relatively rare in North Africa. Lahcen Mhanni, head of the Seismic Monitoring and Warning Department at the National Institute of Geophysics, told 2M TV that the earthquake was the strongest ever recorded in the mountainous region.
In 1960, a magnitude 5.8 earthquake struck near the Moroccan city of Agadir, causing thousands of deaths.
According to Alarabiya, the Agadir earthquake caused changes in building regulations in Morocco, but many buildings, especially rural houses, are not built to withstand such tremors.
READ ALSO: Earthquake: Nigerian envoy visits Turkiye and donates 1 million dollars
In 2004, a magnitude 6.4 earthquake near the Mediterranean coastal city of Al Hoceima left more than 600 dead.
Friday’s earthquake was felt as far away as Portugal and Algeria, according to the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere and Algeria’s Civil Defense agency, which is overseeing the emergency response.
Although seven Algerian states felt the earthquake, no casualties were reported, the Algerian Civil Defense Service wrote on Facebook.