Morocco Earthquake- Buildings razed to rubble, powerful quake wipes out village – See pictures

Morocco Earthquake: Buildings razed to rubble, powerful quake wipes out village – See pictures1/11

An earthquake has sown destruction and devastation in Morocco, where death and injury counts continue to rise as rescue crews dig out people both alive and dead in villages that were reduced to rubble. Law enforcement and aid workers — both Moroccan and international — have arrived in the region south of Marrakech that was hardest hit by the magnitude-6.8 tremor Friday night and several aftershocks. Residents await food, water and electricity, and giant boulders now block steep mountain roads. Here are some on-ground pictures from Morocco after a powerful earthquake –2/11

The epicenter was high in the Atlas Mountains about 70 kilometers (44 miles) south of Marrakech in Al Haouz province. The region is largely rural, made up of red-rock mountains, picturesque gorges and glistening streams and lakes. (Reuters)

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Of the 2,122 deaths reported as of Sunday evening, 1,351 were in Al Haouz, a region with a population greater than 570,00, according to Morocco’s 2014 census. (Reuters)

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In the largely rural region, where people speak a combination of Arabic and Tachelhit, Morroco’s most common Indigenous language, villages of clay and mud brick built into mountainsides have been destroyed. (Reuters)

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Morocco has deployed ambulances, rescue crews and soldiers to the region to help assist with emergency response efforts. (Reuters)

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Aid groups said the government has not made a broad appeal for help and accepted only limited foreign assistance. (Reuters)

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The Interior Ministry said it was accepting search and rescue-focused international aid from Spain, Qatar, Britain and the United Arab Emirates, bypassing offers from French President Emmanuel Macron and US President Joe Biden. (Reuters)

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Friday’s earthquake was Morocco’s strongest in over a century, but, though such powerful tremors are rare, it isn’t the country’s deadliest. (Reuters)

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Emergency response efforts are likely to continue as teams traverse mountain roads to reach villages hit hardest by the earthquake. Many communities lack food, water, electricity and shelter. (Reuters)

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Members of the Moroccan Parliament are scheduled to convene Monday to create a government fund for earthquake response at the request of King Mohammed VI. (Reuters)

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Mohamed Sebbagh, 66, stands in front of his destroyed house, in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake, in Amizmiz, Morocco. (Reuters)