A magnitude 3.9 aftershock yesterday rattled Moroccans as they prayed for victims of the nation’s strongest earthquake in more than a century and worked to rescue survivors, while soldiers and workers brought water and supplies to mountain villages in ruins.
More than 2,000 people are dead — a number that is expected to rise.
The UN estimated that 300,000 people were affected by Friday night’s magnitude 6.8 quake and some Moroccans complained on social networks that the government was not allowing more help from outside. International aid crews were prepared to deploy, but remained in limbo waiting for the Morocco government to request their assistance.
Photo: Reuters
“We know there is a great urgency to save people and dig under the remains of buildings,” said Rescuers Without Borders founder Arnaud Fraisse, who had a team stuck in Paris waiting for approval. “There are people dying under the rubble, and we cannot do anything to save them.”
In Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced a donation of US$500,000 to help with recovery and reconstruction.
The ministry said it has instructed the Taipei Representative Office in France to pass on Taiwan’s willingness to help to the Moroccan embassy and the Consulate General of Morocco in Paris.
Taiwan has no official diplomatic relations with Morocco and no office in the North African country so are unable to interact with it directly, the ministry said.
The donation is to be transferred through a third party in the hope that it can help people affected by the earthquake rebuild their homes and resume normal lives, it said.
The National Fire Agency’s special search-and-rescue teams have been mobilized and are ready to assist, it added.
Those left homeless — or fearing more aftershocks — from Friday night’s earthquake slept outside on Saturday, in the streets of Marrakesh or under makeshift canopies in Atlas Mountain towns such as Moulay Brahim, among the hardest-hit.
The worst destruction was in small, rural communities that are hard for rescuers to reach because of the mountainous terrain.
Those same areas were shaken anew yesterday by the aftershock, the US Geological Survey said.
It was not immediately clear if the temblor caused more damage or casualties, but it was likely strong enough to rattle nerves in areas where damage has left buildings unstable and people have spoken of their fears of aftershocks.
The earthquake on Friday toppled buildings not built to withstand such a quake, trapping people in the rubble and sending others fleeing in terror. A total of 2,012 people were confirmed dead and at least 2,059 more people were injured — 1,404 of them critically — the Moroccan Ministry of Interior said on Saturday night.
Additional reporting by Liu Tzu-hsuan
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