A 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck Morocco on Friday evening, killing greater than 1,000 individuals and devastating a area the place many weak buildings have been unable to resist the shaking.
Sources: U.S. Geological Survey; Worldpop
The epicenter was about 35 miles west of Oukaimeden, a well-liked ski resort within the Excessive Atlas Mountains, in accordance with the United States Geological Survey. Rubble crammed alleyways in Marrakesh, a UNESCO World Heritage website, and homes have been flattened in villages within the countryside.
Round 1.8 million individuals reside within the space that skilled robust shaking, the place the chance of harm is highest, in accordance with a New York Instances evaluation of shake depth information from the U.S. Geological Survey and inhabitants density information from WorldPop. About 3 million extra individuals skilled average shaking.
Marrakesh, the most important metropolis within the zone that skilled robust shaking, has one of many nation’s most densely populated medinas, historic mazelike neighborhoods on the middle of many Moroccan cities.
The quake precipitated widespread injury within the metropolis of Marrakesh.
Fadel Senna/Agence France-Presse — Getty Photographs
Though a lot of southern Morocco, the place the quake struck, is rural, the area’s cities and cities are sometimes very densely populated.
