quote: MARRAKECH, Morocco (AP) — A rare, powerful earthquake struck Morocco, sending people racing from their beds into the streets and toppling buildings in mountainous villages and ancient cities not built to withstand such force. More than 2,000 people were killed, and the toll was expected to rise as rescuers struggled Saturday to reach hard-hit remote areas.
The magnitude 6.8 quake, the biggest to hit the North African country in 120 years, sent people fleeing their homes in terror and disbelief late Friday. One man said dishes and wall hangings began raining down, and people were knocked off their feet. The quake brought down walls made from stone and masonry, covering whole communities with rubble.
The devastation gripped each town along the High Atlas’ steep and winding switchbacks in similar ways: homes folding in on themselves and mothers and fathers crying as boys and helmet-clad police carried the dead through the streets.
Remote villages like those in the drought-stricken Ouargane Valley were largely cut off from the world when they lost electricity and cellphone service. By midday, people were outside mourning neighbors, surveying the damage on their camera phones and telling one another “May God save us.”
Sad day in Morocco and I hope they get the assistance they need to help recover any survivors of this tragedy in a timely manner. The impact of this will be significant, given the age of many buildings in this region. Epicenter South of Marrakesh in the Atlas Mountains.
posted
We also send a thought to our fellow ES member Antalas. I do not know if he is in Morocco right now, but he may have relatives there. Hope they are ok.
-------------------- Once an archaeologist, always an archaeologist Posts: 2684 | From: Sweden | Registered: Mar 2020
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posted
Damn that video in the alley looked absolutely horrifying...(I think Nassa lives in France) but I hope Antalas and his family are ok
Posts: 8804 | From: The fear of his majesty had entered their hearts, they were powerless | Registered: Nov 2007
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posted
Damn,The Death toll as of now is 2k, man thats sad. Stay safe Moroccan brothers and sisters and Antalas, hope everything is safe.
Posts: 8804 | From: The fear of his majesty had entered their hearts, they were powerless | Registered: Nov 2007
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posted
Why Morocco is accepting only limited international help:
quote: Almost as soon as news broke of Friday's earthquake in Morocco, offers of help from around the world came in. But the country has so far been selective in what it has chosen to accept.
A statement on Sunday from the interior ministry said Morocco had "responded in this particular phase to offers of support from the friendly nations: Spain, Qatar, the UK and the United Arab Emirates".
Spain has sent a search-and-rescue unit with sniffer dogs and the UK has deployed a similar team, but there have been questions over why Morocco has been slow to accept other offers.
French help is on standby but the head of one rescue charity, Secouristes sans Frontieres, said his aid workers had not been given the go-ahead from the Moroccan government, the AFP news agency reports.
Algeria, which cut diplomatic ties with its North African neighbour two years ago, said it could send 80 specialised rescue workers from its civil protection force.
There have also been offers from the US, Tunisia, Turkey and Taiwan among others.
But the decision over what assistance to welcome has got caught up in questions of sovereignty and geopolitics.
There are strained relations between France and Morocco, for instance, partly as a result of moves by French President Emmanuel Macron to get closer to Algeria.
But the French authorities have tried to play down any idea that they had been snubbed.
"This is a misplaced controversy," Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna is quoted by the Reuters news agency as saying.
"We are ready to help Morocco. It's a sovereign Moroccan decision and it's up to them to decide," she said.
Morocco says it wants to maintain control and does not want to risk a potentially chaotic situation with dozens of countries and organisations coming in to help.
posted
Its really unfortunate because life in these rural areas of the Atlas Mountains can be tough even on a good day. And you know that these ancient kinds of structures aren't designed to withstand something like this.
I know we like to admire the antiquity of these locations and cultures but the downside is these things are not up to modern building standards. And historically it has been disasters that spurred the evolution of those building standards.
Then you have the situation in Libya which was just hit with massive floods after years of civil war. Two disasters in the space of a week.
Posts: 8890 | Registered: May 2005
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Tazarah
Why are you stalking my social media?
Member # 23365
posted
Best case scenario: the quake completely destroyed antalas' internet capabilities and we won't be seeing him for a very long time
Posts: 2493 | From: North America | Registered: Mar 2021
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quote:Originally posted by Tazarah: Best case scenario: the quake completely destroyed antalas' internet capabilities and we won't be seeing him for a very long time
Despite my own negative feelings about the poster you're talking about, this is a rather unkind thing to post. Besides, he's in France more often than not.
quote:Originally posted by Tazarah: Best case scenario: the quake completely destroyed antalas' internet capabilities and we won't be seeing him for a very long time
When I get home, you’re taking a vacation. This is not the thread to make these post..
Posts: 1891 | From: NY | Registered: Sep 2014
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Tazarah
Why are you stalking my social media?
Member # 23365
posted
I said BEST CASE SCENARIO (for those of us who have to deal with antalas' negativity)... his internet is down... meaning he is alive and well, but has no access to the internet for a while.
Not best case scenario, he is hurt or worse....., or anything like that. I did not wish harm or misfortune on antalas, so don't try to make it seem as though I did. It was a light-hearted attempt at a joke to ease the tension.
I hope that antalas is alive and well.
I was going to say worst case scenario his internet is down, but I feared that would be taken the wrong way. How ironic.
Anyone who is familiar with me on here knows I am not the type to wish harm, suffering, death, etc., on anyone regardless of who they are.
@Askia, do what you will. But where are you all of the times where antalas is spewing anti-black hatred, insults and belittling the black posters on this website (myself included), or black people in general? It seems that he can say anything he wants without any sort of punishment.
But as soon as I make a joke that gets interpretated the wrong way, I need a "vacation".
Posts: 2493 | From: North America | Registered: Mar 2021
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