September 11, 2023 Latest news on Morocco earthquake

Hicham Ahazar didn’t feel any pain when he injured his leg. All he was thinking about was getting himself and his sister out of the house that was collapsing around them.

Ahazar, 25, lives in Asni, a mountain town that was badly damaged. He and his sister were eating dinner — tajine, a Moroccan specialty — when the ground started shaking late on Friday night.

It was during that escape that Ahazar hurt his leg. He doesn’t know how exactly he got the deep cut on his knee. He thinks it was likely smashed by a piece of debris.

“I looked at my leg later and I saw there was a lot of blood. But I almost didn’t notice it. It was crazy," he said. It wasn’t until Monday afternoon that he finally got to see a professional and have the wound cleaned and bandaged properly.

Speaking to CNN while waiting for that treatment at a field hospital that opened in Asni on Monday morning, Ahazar said he and his sister have spent the past three nights sleeping outside.

Their home near the Atlas Mountains is no longer safe, like the hundreds of others in their area.

Thousands of people have been killed in the Morocco earthquake, with the death toll expected to rise as rescuers continue to search for survivors. As the country’s King Mohammed VI thanks Spain, Qatar, the UK and the UAE for sending aid, stories are emerging of the devastating impact on local communities.

If you were due to travel there, should you still go? Your instinct might be to stay away, as going on vacation in a country in national mourning seems unseemly. However, that’s not necessarily the best course of action, say those on the ground. Here’s what to know about travel to Morocco as the situation continues to unfold.

The epicenter of the 6.8-magnitude earthquake, which hit on Friday night, was in the High Atlas mountain range, about 72 miles southwest of Marrakech, in the province of Al Haouz, which has had the highest number of casualties.

It was felt strongly in Marrakech, where the historic medina has been damaged. Seaside cities popular with vacationers such as Essaouira and Agadir also felt it strongly, while the quake was felt as far north as Casablanca and Fez, around 300 miles northeast of Marrakech (although no damage has been done in either city or the north of the country as a whole).

It is the deadliest earthquake in Morocco in over 60 years.

“When the earthquake struck it caused a lot of fear and confusion – Morocco is not used to earthquakes, and it took some time for the local authorities to provide advice,” says Zina Bencheikh, Intrepid Travel’s Morocco-based managing director of EMEA. The company had around 650 travelers in the country when the quake hit.

“Outside of the Atlas Mountains and the [Marrakech] medina, most of the country is now running as usual, with transport including trains and other services continuing to operate as usual, including airports.”

You can read more about the travel conditions here

About 100,000 children have been impacted by Friday's earthquake in Morocco, according to initial reports, the United Nations children's agency, UNICEF, said on Monday.

The agency said it doesn't know exactly how many children were killed or injured in the disaster, "the latest estimates from 2022 indicate that children represent almost a third of the population in Morocco."

“Thousands of homes have been destroyed, displacing families, and exposing them to the elements at a time of year when temperatures drop down during the nighttime. Schools, hospitals and other medical and educational facilities have been damaged or destroyed by the quakes, further impacting children,” UNICEF said in a statement.

The agency said it has “already mobilized humanitarian staff to support the immediate response on the ground, which is being led by the Kingdom of Morocco,” and it remains close with authorities and partners to provide further support.

At least 2,862 people have been killed in the Moroccan earthquake and 2,562 have been injured, state-run broadcaster 2M said Monday.

Rescuers are still searching through rubble and trying to reach isolated communities after the devastating earthquake struck on Friday. The quake is the strongest to hit the nation’s center in more than a century, and its epicenter was not far from popular tourist and economic hub Marrakech.

Its impact was felt far and wide, reaching as far north as Casablanca.

The worst impact was in the province of Al Haouz, where nearly 1,500 people have died. The region, like many other badly affected locations, lies south of Morocco at the foot of the Atlas Mountains, and includes remote villages and settlements that have been difficult for rescuers to reach. Eyewitnesses in the foothills of the mountains said some towns are completely destroyed, with almost all the homes in an area of the village of Asni damaged.

CNN's Amarachi Orie and Rob Picheta contributed reporting to this post. 

Rescuers continue to search through the rubble and try to reach isolated communities after the devastating earthquake struck Morocco on Friday, killing thousands and leaving more injured or unaccounted for.

The quake is the strongest to hit the nation’s center in more than a century, and its epicenter was not far from popular tourist and economic hub Marrakech.

The earthquake struck at around 11.11 p.m. local time (6.11 p.m ET) on Friday. Its epicenter was located in the High Atlas mountain range, about 72 kilometers (44.7 miles) southwest of Marrakech, a city of about 840,000 people.

Its impact was felt far and wide, reaching as far north as Casablanca.

But it most severely damaged towns and villages near the base of the Atlas Mountains, while also ripping through the center and suburbs of Marrakech.

The quake had a magnitude of 6.8, meaning it is classed as “strong.” It also struck at a relatively shallow depth, making it more destructive.

Morocco has suffered earthquakes in the past, but few in its history have been so powerful. This quake is Morocco’s deadliest since 1960 when an earthquake killed more than 12,000 people.

Earthquakes of this size in the region are uncommon, according to the US Geological Survey, but not unexpected. It noted that nine quakes with a magnitude of 5 or higher have hit the area since 1900, but none of them have had a magnitude higher than 6.

Many world leaders have expressed their commiserations, as well as offered support to Morocco.

France has activated emergency aid from local government funds to help with humanitarian operations in quake-affected regions, and will give 5 million euros ($5.3M) to non-governmental organizations operating in Morocco to aid rescure efforts, the government said Monday.

A Spanish search and rescue team, made up of 56 soldiers and four dogs, landed in Marrakech to help in the quake’s aftermath, according to Spain’s defense ministry.

Turkey, which was hit by a devastating earthquake that killed tens of thousands earlier this year, said it was ready to send 265 personnel and 1,000 tents to Morocco to support aid efforts.

Britain said it has deployed 60 search and rescue specialists, including four search dogs, rescue equipment and a medical assessment team to Morocco.

Algeria, which severed diplomatic ties with Morocco in 2021 and closed its airspace to all planes registered in Morocco, said it would reopen its airspace for humanitarian aid and medical flights going to and from the Arab nation.

Meanwhile, the Red Cross Society of China said Monday it will send $200,000 in emergency humanitarian cash assistance to the Moroccan Red Crescent to support rescue and relief work.

The United Nations and US President Joe Biden have also said they are ready to provide assistance, and the World Bank has said it has offered the country its “full support.”

Read about ways you can help victims of the earthquake in Morocco.

CNN’s Eyad Kourdi and Pierre Meilhan contributed reporting to this post.

Emergency workers were deployed to affected regions after the earthquake, despite some roads being damaged or blocked by debris. Some remote villages on the foothills of the mountain have been hard to access.

Mohammed, 50, from the town of Ouirgane, lost four family members in the quake. “I managed to get out safely with my two children but lost the rest. My house is gone,” he said.

Rescue operations are still ongoing. “We are out in the streets with authorities as they try to pull the dead from the rubble. Many many people were transported to hospital in front of me. We are hoping for miracles from the rubble” he said.

But destroyed roads to villages are making it hard to get aid into some of the hardest-hit regions, a Moroccan government official told CNN.

“The rescue efforts are ongoing to reach the difficult areas. The earthquake struck mountainous areas that are scattered geographically and it’s difficult to reach these areas in some cases,” the official told CNN. Authorities are using helicopters to reach the worst-hit areas and machinery to remove the rubble from the impassable roads, the official said.

Inside and outside Marrakech, many residents have spent two nights on the streets, afraid to return to their homes. In the hard-hit central village of Moulay Brahim, south of Marrakech in the Atlas Mountains, CNN found a family living in a makeshift camp on a soccer field, with authorities telling them it could be a week before they can go home. Firefighters are leading rescue efforts but some buildings are too dangerous to enter.

Morocco’s government said it had activated all available resources to tackle the quake and urged people to “avoid panic.”

King Mohammed VI of Morocco ordered that a relief commission be set up to distribute aid to survivors, including orphans and people who lost their homes in the disaster.

He also declared three days of national mourning and ordered mosques nationwide to hold funeral prayers, known as “Janazah” prayers, at noon on Sunday for those killed.

CNN’s Eyad Kourdi and Pierre Meilhan contributed reporting to this post.

Morocco’s military reached Ighil, the epicenter of the deadly earthquake, state media 2M reported on Monday.

Military trucks carrying aid and soldiers with equipment arrived into the town, days after the earthquake struck.

Soldiers were walking up the mountain to reach the mountainous terrain and a bulldozer is at the site to remove rubble blocking roads to other villages, a 2M reporter said.

Ighil has a population of 5,000 across its villages and is located in the Al Haouz province, the worst-hit area of the earthquake, with at least 1,400 deaths. 

Video shared on state media showed rubble from destroyed homes and buildings with vehicles carrying aid lining up to enter the town.

A military helicopter airdropped aid onto the villages in the town since the earthquake.

Ibrahim Goodman has lived in his village near the Moroccan town of Asni his whole life. He grew up here and now has three children.

That village, his home, is now mostly rubble. At least 20 people died there in Friday's devastating earthquake, authorities say.

The first aid — some tents, and food and water — arrived in the village on Sunday, some 36 hours after the earthquake hit late on Friday night.

But at least they got something, Goodman told CNN. “For now, we are OK,” he said.

His 6-year-old son Mohamed has just started first grade. The first day of school was just two days before the disaster struck.

Goodman is not optimistic about when Mohamed might be able to get back to classes.

“It will depend on the government. There is no help now. I don’t know — it will take long time,” he said.

Most of the houses in the village are completely uninhabitable. Many have collapsed, and the ones that are still standing are dangerously unstable. Some of the buildings look like they have unfolded, with entire walls missing, exposing the remnants of the inside.

The villagers are staying away from the buildings, afraid they could crumble at any time. There is no water at the moment, as the pipes have been damaged.