Algeria Offers An Emergency Plan To Help the Moroccan People
Algeria has offered an emergency plan if the Moroccan authorities will accept the request to help the Moroccan people affected by the violent earthquake, the official spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs revealed, on Sunday.
“Within the framework of the urgent logistical and material assistance that Algeria has expressed its willingness to provide to the brotherly Moroccan people to confront the damages after the violent earthquake, Algeria offers, if the Kingdom of Morocco accepts, an urgent intervention team of the Civil Protection, including 80 specialized rescuers”, the Foreign Ministry’s spokesman said.
This intervention team consists of “a rescue and search team, a medical team, and a cynotechnical team specialized in searching for people under the rubble, in addition to initial humanitarian aid, such as tents, beds and blankets.”
The death toll from a powerful earthquake that hit Morocco’s Atlas Mountains region late on Friday has risen to 2,122.
The magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck at about 11:11 pm (22:11 GMT) at a depth of nearly 26km (16 miles), according to the US Geological Survey. The depth was initially reported at about 18km.
The magnitude 6.8 quake is classified as “strong” on the Richter scale, which measures the strength of earthquakes.
Magnitudes are based on a logarithmic scale, meaning for each whole-number increase on the scale. So it was a 10 times stronger earthquake than the last strongest 5.8 magnitude quake of 1960.
To put that in context, earthquakes registering a magnitude of 4 or less are considered to be light, but may still cause some damage.
Magnitude 6 quakes are typically considered strong and are 100 times more intense than a magnitude 4 quake.
A magnitude 5 earthquake is, by definition, 10 times more intense than a magnitude 4 and can cause moderate damage to buildings.
Authorities in Morocco have declared three days of national mourning, with many left homeless following the country’s deadliest earthquake in more than 60 years.
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. Marrakesh’s old town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is reported to have been badly affected, with images emerging of collapsed buildings.
Al Haouz was the hardest-hit province, as Ouarzazate, Azilal, Chichaoua, and Taroudant provinces were also severely affected.
Remote villages have been badly hit by the quake, and rescue teams are facing challenges in reaching them.
Remote villages have been badly hit by the quake, and rescue teams are facing challenges in reaching them.
Magnitude 7 earthquakes are considered severe, with the potential to cause significant loss of life and damage to built spaces.
