Morocco earthquake updates: Rural communities most hard hit by temblor

King Mohammed VI of Morocco thanked Spain, Qatar, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates for sending aid in the wake of the devastating earthquake that hit the country on Friday, state TV has said in a post on social media site X.

Morocco assessed aid needs and considered the importance of coordinating relief efforts before accepting help from the four countries, it added in the post late on Sunday.

A group of Moroccan scholars in the United States has set up a GoFundMe campaign to help villages that have been affected by the earthquake in Morocco.

The scholars said they are working with local NGOs and community leaders to ensure all funds make the biggest, most direct impact to support families.

Here is a GoFundMe two colleagues and I set up to help village associations directly to support families: https://t.co/BB0KNbBQik

— Brahim El GuabIi (@SahraOuld) September 9, 2023

Marrakesh has a rich architectural heritage, and much of it has suffered damage in Friday’s earthquake, the strongest ever to hit the North African country.

Some parts of the 700-hectare (1,730-acre) medina and its network of alleyways saw significant damage, with mounds of rubble and crumpled buildings.

The 12th-century walls that surround the millennium-old city, founded by the Almoravid dynasty, have also been partly disfigured by the quake.

“After a disaster like this, the most important thing is to preserve human life,” said Eric Falt, the Maghreb region director for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

“But we also have to plan immediately for the second phase, which includes rebuilding schools and cultural property affected by the earthquake.”

The UK has said it is deploying search and rescue teams to Morocco.

“Sixty UK search and rescue specialists, four search dogs and rescue equipment deployed to Morocco,” the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said in a statement, adding that it was deploying the rescue team on Sunday via two Royal Air Force A400M aircraft.

“Foreign Secretary has spoken to Foreign Minister (Nasser) Bourita and UK remains in close contact with the Moroccan authorities,” the FCDO added.

Spain has sent 86 rescuers and eight search dogs to Morocco following the powerful earthquake that killed more than 2,100 people, responding to a formal request for help from Rabat.

A military plane took off Sunday morning from a base in the northeastern Spanish city of Zaragoza with 56 rescuers and four search dogs bound for Marrakesh, said a defence ministry statement.

The rescue team belongs to Spain’s Military Emergencies Unit (UME), a body of the armed forces created to intervene quickly in emergency situations such as forest fires, floods and earthquakes.

On Sunday evening, another military plane took off from a base in Torrejon de Ardoz near Madrid with 30 rescuers and four search dogs, an interior ministry spokesman said.

Moroccan authorities have accepted offers of support from Spain, Qatar, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates, a government source has said.

“All these offers relate exclusively to the search and relief of disaster victims, through specialised teams,” the source said.

The teams will provide their assistance in a unified and coordinated manner; each team will not work independently of the other, the source added.

The French ambassador to Morocco, Christophe Lecourtier, has told BFM television that Moroccan authorities were “taking into consideration” French offers to send search-and-rescue teams and emergency medical aid.

“We have all reasons to believe that in a few hours or tomorrow this aid will be requested,” he said on Sunday evening.

Amid all the international offers of aid to Morocco, one that stands out is from its neighbour Algeria.

While the two countries share many cultural ties, official diplomatic relations were broken off two years ago. Algeria and Morocco have many disputes, most notably over the status of Western Sahara, a territory Morocco claims as its own but where Algeria supports the pro-independence Polisario Front.

On Sunday, however, Algiers followed up on its offer on Saturday to provide humanitarian aid and said that emergency and medical teams, along with the aid, were ready to be dispatched if Rabat approved.

Lahcen Haddad, a Moroccan senator and former minister, describes the difficulties of reaching remote areas after the deadly earthquake.

Some of the villages are located high in the mountains and are isolated, and roads need to be cleared for ambulances and search and rescue teams to reach the trapped ad injured, he told Al Jazeera from Rabat.

“Sometimes the roads [leading to the villages] are not paved, so you have to bring in the army in order to get to the population [there], and then you start rescue missions at the same time you are evacuating some of the injured,” he said.

Rugged terrain is making it difficult to reach hard-hit communities in Morocco following the earthquake that hit on Friday.

Many people in the region are still under the rubble with their entire communities virtually destroyed, said Al Jazeera’s Hashem Ahelbarra, reporting from Talat N’Yaaqoub, 90km south of Marrakesh.

“Yesterday they managed to rescue two people,” said Ahelbarra. “They are hoping to replicate that today. But it’s going to be difficult for this reason: It’s extremely difficult to get to this area.

“It took me about six hours to drive from the airport to Talat N’Yaaqoub. I saw roads that were blocked by huge rocks that fell from the mountain just after the earthquake.

“This poses massive logistical concerns for authorities.”

Rescue workers in the Moroccan village of Moulay Brahim have celebrated after pulling a man out alive from under a collapsed building near the epicentre of the earthquake that struck late on Friday.

The number of dead from Friday’s earthquake has risen to 2,122, state TV reports.

The number of injured climbed to 2,421, it said.

Qatar is preparing to send aid and provide support to earthquake-stricken Morocco.

At Al Udeid air base, “Qatari [authorities] are currently preparing four planes to be flown into Morocco as part of the search and rescue operation,” Al Jazeera’s Stefanie Dekker said.

“Qatar is one of many countries who have pledged help to Morocco in the aftermath of this devastating earthquake,” she said, adding that the aid included vehicles and hardware, tents, medical equipment, search and rescue equipment, and food.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has released more than $1m from its emergency disaster fund to support the Moroccan Red Crescent’s work on the ground.

“The next 24 to 48 hours will be critical in terms of saving lives,” the global humanitarian network warned, adding that help could be needed for months or even years.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that more than 300,000 people have been affected by the disaster.

Khadija Satou, a resident of Marrakesh, has described the scene at Jemaa el-Fna Square in the heart of the old city as eerie with some shops closed and a mosque damaged after its minaret fell in the earthquake that hit Morocco on Friday night.

Some shopkeepers decided to stay open, saying they didn’t want to risk scaring tourists away. “The city itself and most residents depend on tourism,” one shop owner said, adding that closures might affect business. One of his employees said he hoped the city and its people will recover as soon as possible.

Another shop owner said: “The only thing we can do now as Moroccans is to console and support each other, help people who lost their homes, provide food, and donate to charities and give whatever we can to those in need.”

A taxi driver nearby said the government should enforce regulations on rebuilding homes so they are better equipped for future natural disasters.

A woman originally from Al Hoceima, a coastal town in northern Morocco, said she witnessed the 2004 deadly earthquake there, adding that she was lucky to be alive.

“What I went through Friday night brought back tragic memories, but I’m glad for the survivors and praying for the dead and for those who lost their families and homes,” she said.

Four French citizens are among those killed in the Morocco earthquake, and 15 have been injured, France’s Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs says in an update on casualties.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has sent his and the nation’s condolences to Mohammed VI and the citizens of Morocco.

Opening an Israeli cabinet meeting, he reminded his ministers that the disaster has killed more than 2,000 people – so far.

He added: “The state of Israel will render all possible assistance to Morocco, including, if requested, a rescue mission that is standing ready to help them. The state of Israel stands beside Morocco at this difficult time.”

Remote villages have been badly hit by the quake, and rescue teams are facing challenges in reaching them.

Caroline Holt, the global head of operations at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), says rescuing people “buried under the rubble at this moment is a race against time”.

“This response has very much been organised with the Moroccan government taking the lead at this point,” she told Al Jazeera.

“Search and rescue is critical at this point. Catching people buried under the rubble at this moment is a race against time,” Holt said.

“I don’t think we know the full picture of the extent of the injuries, and the number of deaths and survivors yet,” she added.