On Sept. 8th, a tragic earthquake struck the country of Morocco. This earthquake took thousands of lives and injured many others. More specifically, 2,497 people were killed while 2,476 were severely hurt. As CNN states, the earthquake took place at around 11:11 p.m. and hit most directly in the High Atlas Mountain range, with a population of around 840,000 people. Although the earthquake hit one area directly, it affected a large number of cities, expanding up to Casablanca.
The earthquake had a magnitude of 6.8, and was hit at a shallow depth making it stronger, CNN explains. An earthquake of this strength was unexpected due to the fact that only nine earthquakes with a magnitude of five or higher have hit this area since 1900. This has been reported as the deadliest earthquake since 1960. Towns and villages have been destroyed and ruined leaving many people homeless. A historical structure was destroyed in the town of Marrakech, with another monument, the 12th-century Tinmal Mosque, damaged.
In terms of recovery, many world leaders have shared their sorrow and are pitching in for the rebuilding of everything that was destroyed. Many emergency workers were assigned regions to tend to in order to locate any possible missing persons from the earthquake. King Mohammed IV has issued three days for the people to mourn and reflect on this tragedy and to potentially find some peace.
