Hopes fade for survivors as Morocco earthquake toll tops 2,800

Search teams from Spain, the United Kingdom and Qatar have joined Moroccan rescue efforts after the magnitude 6.8 quake struck late on Friday in the High Atlas Mountains, with the epicentre 72km (45 miles) southwest of Marrakesh.

State television reported that the death toll has risen to 2,862 with 2,562 people injured. Rescuers stated the traditional mud brick houses ubiquitous in the region reduced the chances of finding survivors because they had crumbled.

Among the dead was seven-year-old Suleiman Aytnasr, whose mother had carried him to his bedroom after he fell asleep in the living room of their home in a hamlet outside Talat N’Yaaqoub, in one of the worst-hit areas. He had been about to start a new school year.

“As she came back, the earthquake happened and the ceiling was destroyed and fell on him,” said Suleiman’s father, Brahim Aytnasr, whose eyes were red from crying. He spent Monday trying to salvage items from the debris of his house.

Footage from the remote village of Imi N’Tala, filmed by Spanish rescuer Antonio Nogales of the aid group Bomberos Unidos Sin Fronteras (United Firefighters Without Borders), showed men and dogs clambering over steep slopes covered in rubble.

“The level of destruction is … absolute,” stated Nogales, struggling to find the right word to describe what he was seeing.

“Not a single house has stayed upright.”

Despite the scale of the damage, he said rescuers searching with dogs still hoped to find survivors.

“I am sure that in the coming days, there will be some rescues. We think that there may still be people in the collapsed structures, that there may have been pockets of air, and as I say, we never give up hope,” he added.

After an initial response that was described as too slow by some survivors, search and rescue efforts appeared to be speeding up on Monday, with tent camps appearing in some locations where people were preparing for a fourth night outdoors.

A video filmed by Moroccan outlet 2M showed a military helicopter flying over an area close to the epicentre, dropping sacks of essential supplies to isolated families.

With much of the quake zone in hard-to-reach areas, the authorities have not issued any estimates for the number of people missing.

The harm done to Morocco’s cultural heritage has been emerging gradually. Buildings in Marrakesh’s old city, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, were damaged. The quake also caused significant damage to the historically significant 12th-century Tinmel Mosque.

Residents in Tinmel, a remote village closer to the epicentre where 15 people were killed, said they had been sharing food, water and medicine but desperately needed tents and blankets to shelter from the cold mountain nights.

The mother of a 15-day-old child said she needed milk formula and medicine for her baby.

Initial reports indicate that approximately 100,000 children have been affected by the earthquake.

While the United Nations Children’s Agency does not yet know the exact number of children killed and injured, the latest estimates from 2022 indicate that children represent almost a third of Morocco’s population.

It was the North African country’s deadliest earthquake since 1960, when a tremor was estimated to have killed at least 12,000 people, and the most powerful since at least 1900, according to the United States Geological Survey.

In a televised statement on Sunday, government spokesperson Mustapha Baytas defended the government’s response, saying every effort was being made on the ground.

The army announced it was reinforcing search-and-rescue teams, providing drinking water and distributing food, tents and blankets.

King Mohammed VI has not addressed the nation since the disaster. Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch told local media the government would compensate victims but gave few details.

Morocco has accepted offers of aid from Spain and the UK, which both sent search-and-rescue specialists with sniffer dogs, from the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, which said on Sunday a search-and-rescue team was on its way.

Meanwhile, an outpouring of online and real-world support has pushed historical tensions between Algeria and Morocco aside as government and civil society offer to join global solidarity efforts.

The European Commission said it will provide 1 million euros ($1.07m) to Morocco to support relief efforts in affected areas.

State television noted the government had assessed needs and considered the importance of coordinating relief efforts before accepting help, and that it might accept relief offers from other countries later.