Morocco Earthquake: Residents across Morocco are perhaps facing one of the most difficult times of their lives after a 6.8 magnitude earthquake hit the North African country and destroyed the cities killing over 2,000 people. People were forced to run out of their houses as the tremors hit the country. According to a CNN report, the epicentre was in the High Atlas mountains, about 72 kilometers (45 miles) southwest of Marrakech, a popular tourist city of nearly 840,000 people.
As per the US Geological Survey, the shockwave was the most powerful to shake the area surrounding Marrakech in more than 120 years. State TV reported that the number of victims makes it the deadliest quake to hit Morocco, as per CNN.
Confusion and fear swept the towns as people tried to connect with relatives and friends as rubble covered the streets showing the extent to which the devastation took place here.
The country's royal palace has declared three days of national mourning, reported BBC. It also said the armed forces would deploy rescue teams to provide affected areas with clean drinking water, food supplies, tents and blankets.
Morocco's interior ministry said that many people died in the provinces and municipalities of al-Haouz, Marrakesh, Ouarzazate, Azilal, Chichaoua and Taroudant, adding that over 1,200 had been injured.
'Absolute Chaos': Witnesses Share Horros Of The Moment
According to The Guardian, Sociologist Amro Ali, who lives in the northern port city of Casablanca described the horrors when the quake hit the country.
“My wife identified what was happening. As she has a little more experience with earthquakes, she ran and hid under the table, so I did the same. I also went to shut off the gas. Of course, it was frightening. The one reassuring part was that nothing was falling, but still it was completely disorienting," he was quoted as saying.
"Then we opened the front doors and everyone was running out trying to evacuate, people were shouting and screaming. Everything was mayhem, people ran out in whatever clothes they were wearing and went down to the street. Then they began to talk about aftershocks" he further said.
In the capital city of Rabat, more than 315 miles from the epicentre, development worker Loubna Rais was at her home when the tremors hit, as per The Guardian.
"I just kept waiting for it to stop and it didn’t stop, I was very scared," she said. "Quite frankly, that’s when I realised we are not educated about these dangers and what to do when this happens. I gathered my cats and we hid under this huge wooden desk that my dad had made me when I was a teenager. Because that was my only source of hope at that moment. It was scary. I started hearing people screaming outside," she added, as quoted by The Guardian.
"For the first few seconds, you don’t know what’s happening. My wife called out to me and obviously we both jumped for our daughter. My wife picked up the baby and we ran outside but we weren’t sure what we were meant to do,” said Bode Shonibare, a British-Nigerian banker visiting his wife’s family in a northern district of Marrakech, the major city closest to the epicentre," a man told The Guardian.
His wife and their daughter, reached the street only to witness a scene of "absolute chaos".
"Everyone ran outside, people were in shock, crying as they held their babies in their hands. The streets were jammed with people. Everyone was terrified to go back into their houses as they just didn’t know if that was the end or if it might continue," he said.