In the critical hours when it is necessary to remove the people left behind under the rubble, Morocco wakes up with a still preliminary assessment that speaks of more than 2,000,000 deaths in the earthquake that hit the center of the country on Friday had origin.
In the worst-hit areas, residents once again spent the night outdoors for fear of new aftershocks and landslides.
More than 4,000 victims
The number of victims of the earthquake that hit Morocco last Fridaythe number of deaths now exceeds 4,000 and injured, while rescue operations continue in several southern villages of the country, in which the first Spanish rescue teams took part this Sunday.
According to the latest provisional assessment by the Moroccan Interior Ministry, the earthquake caused a total of 2,122 deaths and 2,421 injuries, of which 1,351 were seriously injured. The province with the most deaths is Al Haouz, where at least 1,351 people died, and the second largest province is Taroudant, where the earthquake has already claimed 492 lives.
Morocco is considering further international aid
The Interior Ministry announced this in a statement As rescue efforts progress, the country’s authorities could draw on more international help. So far it has accepted aid from four countries: Spain, Qatar, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates.
The same source noted that the Moroccan authorities had made an “accurate assessment” of the needs on the ground and pointed out that “the lack of coordination” in the management of aid could have counterproductive consequences.
“As intervention operations progress, the assessment of possible needs evolves, which would result in resorting to the support offers proposed by other friendly countries according to the needs of each phase,” the ministry said.
Spanish assistance has already arrived with the deployment of the UME Urban Search and Rescue team, which arrived in Marrakesh this Sunday after taking off from Zaragoza air base on an A400 Air Force aircraft.
Spanish help is coming
The urban search and rescue team, consisting of 56 soldiers and four dogs, moved from Marrakech to Tala N’Yaaqoub, an area 25 kilometers from the epicenter of the earthquake, becoming the first certified team to reach the emergency area.
This Sunday, groups of Spanish firefighters also arrived in Marrakesh to collaborate with the Moroccan authorities in the rescue efforts.
As rescue operations progress, Several villagers reported that 17 mountain villages in the Imgdal region, about 77 kilometers south of Marrakech and about 50 kilometers from the earthquake’s epicenter, remained isolated without basic help.
These are villages like Anamir, Tiguirst, Taghzut and Tauridt, which, according to these neighbors, are completely isolated. In this last city, a woman gave birth outdoors without the possibility of taking her to a hospital, Omar Ait Said from Tauride.

The epicenter, 63 kilometers from Marrakesh
The magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck several southern provinces of the Maghreb country on Friday. Its epicenter was in the town of Ighil, 63 kilometers southwest of Marrakesh, the tourist capital of Morocco.