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Earthquake in Morocco
A rare powerful 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck Morocco at around 11pm local time on the 8th September claiming over 3000 lives, affecting 30,000 people, collapsing homes, blocking roads and causing buildings to sway as far away as the country's northern coast. The shaking only lasted for several seconds but caused unimaginable devastation.
The tectonic activity in Morocco primarily involves the convergence of the Eurasian and the Nubian (African) plates. The Eurasian Plate pushing against the Nubian Plate is what led to the formation of the Atlas Mountains, which run through Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia.
The epicentre was located in the Ighil area, a mountainous rural commune home to small farming villages in the Al-Haouz province near the ski resort of Oukaimeden in the Atlas Mountains 70 kilometres from Marrakesh. The earthquake was felt all over the country, including in the provinces of Ouarzazate, Marrakesh, Azilal, Chichaoua and Taroudant with tremors being felt as far away as Huelva and Jaen in southern Spain.
The Moroccan armed forces deployed rescue teams to provide affected areas with clean drinking water, food supplies, tents and blankets. However, some remote areas were hard to reach due to obstructed roads and the fact that they are so isolated. Several other countries, including Israel, France, Spain, Italy and the US, offered aid.
Earthquakes of this size are uncommon in the region but not unexpected, according to experts. Since 1900, there have been 9 magnitude 5 and stronger earthquakes within 500km (311 miles) of this disaster, none of which exceeded magnitude 6 on the richter scale.
Related News and Resources
- View satellite analysis of the earthquake in UNOSAT's Live Web Map
- Download kml file for Earthquakes in Morocco, commune Anougal, Haouz
| Type of Event: | Earthquake |
| Location of Event: | Morocco |
| Date of Charter Activation: | 2023-09-09 |
| Time of Charter Activation: | 15:46 |
| Time zone of Charter Activation: | UTC+07:00 |
| Charter Requestor: | UNITAR on behalf of International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) |
| Activation ID: | 838 |
| Project Management: | UNITAR |
| Value Adding: | IFRC Copernicus EMS (Copernicus EMS) UAESA Moroccan Space Agency (CRTS) Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre Konstantin Homenkov (Geoniformation systems) SERTIT Lahache Guillaume (Predict Services) British Geological Survey Corné van der Sande (eLEAF) K-water Research Institute Hamza Ait Zamzami (Reising) |
 | Activation handled in collaboration with Copernicus Emergency Management Service |
Products
Earthquakes in Morocco, commune Anougal, Haouz
Copyright: © (2023) MAXAR Technologies. All rights reserved.
© (2023) DigitalGlobe, Inc., Longmont CO USA 80503. DigitalGlobe and the DigitalGlobe logos are trademarks of DigitalGlobe, Inc. The use and/or dissemination of this data and/or of any product in any way derived there from are restricted. Unauthorized use and/or dissemination is prohibited
Map produced by MAXAR
Information about the Product
Acquired: 11/09/2023
Source: WorldView-2
Category: Reference Map
Grading Product with the damage grade assessment over Tamarirt
Download the full report
Copyright: Includes Pleiades material © CNES (2023), Distribution Airbus DS.
Report produced by Copernicus EMS
Information about the Product
Acquired: 10/09/2023
Source: Pleiades
Category: Grading Map
Power Supply Assessment Following the earthquake in Adassil/Al Haouz
Download the full report
Copyright: International Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals (CBAS)
Copyright: NASA
Origin Space Co., Ltd., China
Report created by UNITAR / UNOSAT
Information about the Product
Acquired: Suomi NPP: 31/08/2023, SDGSAT: 04/09/2023
Yangwang-1 Space Telescope nighttime data: 14/09/2023
VIIRS: 01/07/2023 - 17/09/2023,
Source: Suomi NPP, Yangwang-1 Space Telescope, VIIRS
Category: Delineation Monitoring Maps
Preliminary Landslides Assessment for the Morocco Earthquake
Download the full report
Copyright: © (2023) DigitalGlobe, Inc., Longmont CO USA 80503. DigitalGlobe and the DigitalGlobe logos are trademarks of DigitalGlobe, Inc. The use and/or dissemination of this data and/or of any product in any way derived there from are restricted. Unauthorized use and/or dissemination is prohibited
Includes Pleiades material © CNES (2023), Distribution Airbus DS.
© 2004 GeoEye NextView License
Report created by The British Geological Survey
Information about the Product
Acquired: WorldView-2: 25/03/2023, 07/07/2022, 13/09/2023, 14/09/2023
Pleiades: 10/09/2023
GeoEye-1: 13/09/2023
Source: WorldView-2, Pleiades, GeoEye-1
Category: Dossier
Satellite Imagery Derived Earthquake Damage Assessment of the Al Haouz Region, Morocco
Download the Full Report
Copyright: © (2023) DigitalGlobe, Inc., Longmont CO USA 80503.
DigitalGlobe and the DigitalGlobe logos are trademarks of DigitalGlobe, Inc. The use and/or dissemination of this data and/or of any product in any way derived there from are restricted. Unauthorized use and/or dissemination is prohibited.
Report produced by the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre.
Information about the Product
Acquired: WorldView-3: 10/09/2023
WorldView-2: 13/09/2023
Source: WorldView-2 and WorldView-3
Category: Delineation Map
Preliminary satellite flood assessment report of the earthquake in the Chichaoua Province, Marrakech-Safi Region, Morocco
Download the full report
Copyright: Includes Pleiades material © CNES (2023), Distribution Airbus DS.
Maxar Technologies
Report produced by UNITAR/UNOSAT
Information about the Product
Acquired: 10/09/2023
Source: Pleiades
Category: Reference Map
Preliminary Night-time Light Loss Assessment Following the Adassil/Al Haouz Earthquake in the Marrakech-Safi Region
Download Full Report
Copyright: Suomi NPP/VIIRS © NASA (2023)
Report produced by UNITAR/UNOSAT
Information about the Product
Acquired: 10/09/2023
Source: Suomi NPP
Category: Reference Map
Initial assessment of towns and villages affected by the earthquake, based on available satellite imagery
Download the full report
Copyright: Maxar Technologies
Includes Pleiades material © CNES (2023), Distribution Airbus DS.
Report produced by Predict
Information about the Product
Acquired: 10/09/2023
Source: Pleiades
Category: Grading Map
Initial assessment of towns and villages affected by the earthquake, based on available satellite imagery
Download the full report
Copyright: Includes Pleiades material © CNES (2023), Distribution Airbus DS.
Maxar Technologies
Report produced by Predict
Information about the Product
Acquired: 10/09/2023
Source: Pleiades
Category: Grading Map
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