Morocco Earthquake Toll Likely to Top 300

Feb. 24, 2004
By ALI NAJI, Associated Press Writer

RABAT, Morocco - A powerful earthquake struck northern Morocco early Tuesday, toppling houses and killing at least 300 people, local authorities said. Many of the victims were women, children, and the elderly.

The quake shook rural areas near the Mediterranean city of Al Hoceima, and there was deep concern about three outlying villages — Ait Kamra, Tamassint and Imzourn — where 30,000 people live in mud structures unable to withstand such an earthquake.

The quake struck at 2:27 a.m. when most people would have been asleep.

"If we take into account the 140 people already killed in Al Kamra, we believe that the toll will rise to more than 300," a spokesman for village authorities told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the 6.5-magnitude quake was centered 100 miles northeast of Fez, about a mile below the Mediterranean Sea bed.

The death toll climbed steadily throughout the day as rescuers reached hard-hit areas. Military and civilian rescuers were dispatched to help survivors and search for victims trapped under rubble, while helicopters filled with emergency supplies were preparing for takeoff.

However, rescuers reported difficulties in reaching the affected area, located in the foothills of the Rif Mountains and served by bad roads.

A 4.1-magnitude aftershock hit near Al Hoceima at 11:04 a.m., according to the official MAP news agency. It quoted the geophysical laboratory of the National Scientific and Technical Research Center.

A physician at Mohammed V hospital in Al-Hoceima told French television station LCI that there were "many deaths and many injured."

"Most of the injured have broken bones," he said. "Houses collapsed. It was a very, very violent jolt."

Another physician at the hospital told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity that hundreds of people were injured and that he expected the death toll to go to at least 200.

Al-Hoceima is the largest city in northern Morocco and is populated by Berbers. The region suffers from extreme poverty and underdevelopment and has been neglected by the government for decades following a rebellion in 1960.

The local economy is sustained by fishing and by farmers who grow cannabis.

U.S. Geological Survey spokesman Butch Kinerney said the earthquake's strength and depth could lead to damage along the coasts. He said the quake would likely be felt up to 200 miles away in Algeria.

The quake — which reverberated across the Strait of Gibraltar — was felt across much of southern Spain, but no damage or injuries were reported. News reports said it was most noticed in tall apartment blocks of southern Andalucia and southeast Murcia. The quake was also felt in the Spanish North African enclave of Melilla.

An unrelated temblor Monday evening shook the Alps region in southeast France. No injuries or damage were reported.

The last large earthquake to hit the area measured 6.0 and struck in 1994. But Morocco's deadliest earthquake was in 1960, when 15,000 people were killed after a devastating quake shook the southern city of Agadir and surrounding regions.

The last time a major earthquake battered North Africa was on May 21, 2003, when more than 2,200 people were killed and 10,000 injured after a temblor devastated northern Algeria.

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