On September 8, 2023, a magnitude 6.8 earthquake hit Morocco’s Atlas Mountains region.
The earthquake’s epicentre was located in Al-Haouz province in the High Atlas of the mountains – an area usually not associated with earthquakes – about 75km (44 miles) from Marrakesh, Morocco’s fourth largest city.
The earthquake is the country’s deadliest in more than 60 years, killing at least 2,122 people and leaving more than 2,400 injured.
According to the United States Geographic Survey (USGS), earthquakes of this intensity are rare in the region with no recorded instances of a magnitude of 6.8 or higher having been detected within 300km (186 miles) of Friday’s epicentre.
Over the past 48 hours, at least two dozen aftershocks have rattled the region with the most powerful being of magnitude 4.9.
Original from www.aljazeera.com