Rabat - Brussels: Agencies - Europe and the Arabs
A strong earthquake struck Morocco at dawn on Saturday, causing hundreds of deaths and injuries, as well as causing severe damage and causing a state of panic among citizens who ran into the street for fear of houses falling on them. Members of Moroccan communities abroad interacted with the event, and through social media, they showed sadness and solidarity with their home country and their families in the Moroccan cities that were damaged by the earthquake.
According to Moroccan and other media reports, 296 people were killed and 153 injured as a result of a strong earthquake that struck Morocco at dawn on Saturday, according to a provisional official tally reported by the Ministry of Interior.
"In a preliminary outcome ... this tremor resulted in the death of 296 people in the provinces and prefectures of Al Haouz, Marrakech, Ouarzazate, Azilal, Chichaoua and Taroudant," the ministry said in a statement.
She added, "153 people were injured... and they were transferred to hospitals." The official statement identified the epicenter of the earthquake in "Eghil" in the Al Haouz region, in southern Morocco, indicating that all means and capabilities have been harnessed for intervention and relief.
  The earthquake, which was described as the largest in the history of the Kingdom, caused material damage and collapse of buildings.
And media sources reported, "The health authorities in Marrakesh appealed to the population quickly to donate blood to save cases that need blood transfusions.
  The earthquake measured 6.8 on the Richter scale, according to the American Geophysical Institute. Its center was located southwest of the tourist city of Marrakesh, 320 km south of the capital, Rabat.
For its part, the National Center for Scientific and Technical Research, based in Rabat, stated that the earthquake's strength reached about 7 degrees on the Richter scale, and that its epicenter is located in Al Haouz province.
A Moroccan official said earlier that dozens of people died, most of them in hard-to-reach areas south of Marrakech
Residents in Marrakesh, the closest major city to the epicenter, said that some buildings collapsed in the old city, which is on the list of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and local television showed pictures of the fall of a mosque minaret and rubble scattered on smashed cars.
The US Geological Survey said that the earthquake occurred about 72 kilometers east of the Moroccan city of Marrakesh.
  The sources mentioned that five people from one family were killed after a building collapsed in Demnate, and he also talked about a distress call to rescue those trapped under the rubble.
Some accounts on the social networking platform "X" showed the first moments of the earthquake.
Video clips posted on the platform showed people running into the streets and buildings shaking.
On February 24, 2004, an earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale struck Al Hoceima Governorate, 400 km northeast of Rabat, resulting in 628 deaths and severe material damage.
On February 29, 1960, an earthquake destroyed the city of Agadir, located on the western coast of the country, leaving more than 12,000 dead, or a third of the city’s population.