AMIZMIZ, Sept 11 (AP): People in Morocco slept in the streets of Marrakech for a third straight night
as soldiers and international aid teams in trucks and helicopters began to fan into remote mountain
towns hit hardest by a historic earthquake.
The disaster killed more than 2,100 people — a number that is expected to rise — and the United
Nations estimated that 300,000 people were affected by Friday night’s magnitude 6.8 quake.
Amid offers from several countries, including the United States and France, Moroccan officials said
Sunday that they are accepting international aid from just four countries: Spain, Qatar, Britain and
the United Arab Emirates.
“The Moroccan authorities have carefully assessed the needs on the ground, bearing in mind that a
lack of coordination in such cases would be counterproductive,” the Interior Ministry said in a
statement.
While some foreign search-and-rescue teams arrived on Sunday as an aftershock rattled Moroccans
already in mourning and shock, other aid teams poised to deploy grew frustrated waiting for the
government to officially request assistance.
“We know there is a great urgency to save people and dig under the remains of buildings,” said
Arnaud Fraisse, founder of Rescuers Without Borders, who had a team stuck in Paris waiting for the
green light. “There are people dying under the rubble, and we cannot do anything to save them.”
Help was slow to arrive in Amizmiz, where a whole chunk of the town of orange and red sandstone
brick homes carved into a mountainside appeared to be missing. A mosque’s minaret had collapsed.
“It’s a catastrophe,’’ said villager Salah Ancheu, 28. “We don’t know what the future is. The aid
remains insufficient.”
“There aren’t ambulances, there aren’t police, at least for right now,” Ancheu said, speaking about
many parts of the region on Sunday morning.
Those left homeless — or fearing more aftershocks — slept outside Saturday, in the streets of the
ancient city of Marrakech or under makeshift canopies in hard-hit Atlas Mountain towns like Moulay
Brahim. Both there and in Amizmiz, residents worried most about the damage in hard-to-reach
communities. The worst destruction was in rural communities that rely on unpaved roads that snake
up the mountainous terrain covered by fallen rocks.
Those areas were shaken anew Sunday by a magnitude 3.9 aftershock, according to the U.S.
Geological Survey. It wasn’t immediately clear if it caused more damage or casualties, but it was
likely strong enough to rattle nerves in areas where damage has left buildings unstable and residents
feared aftershocks.
In a region where many build bricks out of mud, Friday’s earthquake toppled buildings not strong
enough to withstand such a mighty temblor, trapping people in the rubble and sending others
fleeing in terror. A total of 2,122 people were confirmed dead and at least 2,421 others were injured
— 1,404 of them critically, the Interior Ministry reported.
Most of the dead — 1,351 — were in the Al Haouz district in the High Atlas Mountains, the ministry
said.
Flags were lowered across Morocco, as King Mohammed VI ordered three days of national mourning
starting Sunday. The army mobilized search and rescue teams, and the king ordered water, food
rations and shelters to be sent to those who lost homes.
He also called for mosques to hold prayers Sunday for the victims, many of whom were buried
Saturday amid the frenzy of rescue work nearby.
Though it said for the first time Sunday that it would accept aid from four countries, Morocco has
not made an international appeal for help like Turkey did in the hours following a massive quake
earlier this year, according to aid groups.
Aid offers poured in from around the world, and the U.N. said it had a team in Morocco coordinating
international support. About 100 teams made up of a total of 3,500 rescuers are registered with a
U.N. platform and ready to deploy in Morocco when asked, Rescuers Without Borders said. Germany
had a team of more than 50 rescuers waiting near Cologne-Bonn Airport but sent them home, news
agency dpa reported.
A Spanish search-and-rescue team arrived in Marrakech and headed to the rural Talat N’Yaaqoub,
according to Spain’s Emergency Military Unit. Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said in a radio
interview that Moroccan authorities asked for help. Another rescue team from Nice, France, also
was on its way.
Officials in the Czech Republic earlier said the country was sending about 70 members of a rescue
team trained in searching through rubble after receiving an official request from the Moroccan
government. Czech Defense Minister Jana Cernochova said three military planes were prepared to
transport the team.
In France, which has many ties to Morocco and said four of its citizens died in the quake, towns and
cities have offered more than 2 million euros ($2.1 million) in aid. Popular performers are collecting
donations.
The epicenter of Friday’s quake was near the town of Ighil in Al Haouz Province, about 70 kilometers
(44 miles) south of Marrakech. The region is known for scenic villages and valleys tucked in the High
Atlas Mountains.
Devastation gripped each town along the High Atlas’ steep and winding switchbacks, with homes
folding in on themselves and people crying as boys and helmet-clad police carried the dead through
the streets.
“I was asleep when the earthquake struck. I could not escape because the roof fell on me. I was
trapped. I was saved by my neighbors who cleared the rubble with their bare hands,” said Fatna
Bechar in Moulay Brahim. “Now, I am living with them in their house because mine was completely
destroyed.”
There was little time for mourning as survivors tried to salvage anything from damaged homes.
Khadija Fairouje’s face was puffy from crying as she joined relatives and neighbors hauling
possessions down rock-strewn streets. She had lost her daughter and three grandsons aged 4 to 11
when their home collapsed while they were sleeping less than 48 hours earlier.
“Nothing’s left. Everything fell,” said her sister, Hafida Fairouje.
The Mohammed V Foundation for Solidarity was coordinating help for about 15,000 families in Al
Haouz province, including food, medical aid, emergency housing and blankets, the state news
agency MAP quoted the organization’s head, Youssef Rabouli, as saying after he visited the region.
Rescuers backed by soldiers and police searched collapsed homes in the remote town of Adassil,
near the epicenter. Military vehicles brought in bulldozers and other equipment to clear roads, MAP
reported. Ambulances took dozens of wounded from the village of Tikht, population 800, to
Mohammed VI University Hospital in Marrakech.
In Marrakech, large chunks were missing from a crenelated roof, and warped metal, crumbled
concrete and dust were all that remained of a building cordoned off by police.
Tourists and residents lined up to give blood.
“I did not even think about it twice,” Jalila Guerina told The Associated Press, “especially in the
conditions where people are dying, especially at this moment when they are needing help, any
help.” She cited her duty as a Moroccan citizen.
The quake had a preliminary magnitude of 6.8 when it hit at 11:11 p.m., lasting several seconds, the
USGS said. A magnitude 4.9 aftershock hit 19 minutes later, it said. The collision of the African and
Eurasian tectonic plates occurred at a relatively shallow depth, which makes a quake more
dangerous.
It was the strongest earthquake to hit the North African country in over 120 years, according to
USGS records dating to 1900, but it was not the deadliest. In 1960, a magnitude 5.8 temblor struck
near the city of Agadir, killing at least 12,000. That quake prompted Morocco to change construction
rules, but many buildings, especially rural homes, are not built to withstand such tremors.
In 2004, a magnitude 6.4 earthquake near the Mediterranean coastal city of Al Hoceima left more
than 600 dead.
