Moroccans too terrified to stay inside turn to spend night sleeping on streets

Many people from Morocco were very scared to stay inside, so they decided to sleep on the streets for a second night in a row.

Pictures and videos show lots of scared people on the sidewalks, worried that more shaking would happen after the big earthquake on Friday.

Some people used duvets as beds, while others only had one blanket to wrap themselves in.

Some people put their things in a suitcase and kept it with them all night.

Many people decided to sleep outside. Others had to because their houses were destroyed.

The earthquake, which measured 6. 8 on the scale used to measure earthquakes, has caused entire villages to collapse. The earthquake started near the town of Ighil in Al Haouz Province, about 43 miles south of Marrakech.

Over 2,012 people have passed away and 2,059 have been hurt, and unfortunately, these numbers are likely to increase more.
More families are stuck under the collapsed buildings, and rescue teams are having a hard time reaching them. This is particularly true in the worst affected countryside, where the roads are entirely blocked by the debris.

Yesterday, Caroline Holt, who is in charge of operations for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), said that there is only a limited amount of time for rescues to happen.

She said the next 24 to 48 hours are very important for saving lives. She promised that they will focus on searching for people while also taking care of those who have been found and are safe.

The people who live in the area are working together to help those trapped under collapsed buildings. Some are searching through debris using only their hands.

The earthquake was the largest one to happen in Morocco in 120 years. It caused buildings and walls in old cities, which were made of stone and other materials not built to handle earthquakes, to collapse.
Not a lot of earthquakes happen in North Africa. Lahcen Mhanni, who is in charge of monitoring earthquakes at the National Institute of Geophysics, said on 2M TV that the earthquake was the most powerful ever recorded in the mountain area.

In 1960, a big earthquake with a strength of 5. 8 happened near the city of Agadir in Morocco. Many people died because of it.

Professor Bill McGuire, a retired professor who specializes in studying the dangers of natural disasters like earthquakes, explained that even though people don’t usually associate Morocco with earthquakes, they do occur there.

A very strong earthquake caused many buildings to collapse in Marrakech, Morocco.
This one is really big for the area – the largest in over 120 years – and, as shown by the number of deaths from climbing, very dangerous.

The issue is that in places where there are not many powerful earthquakes, buildings are not built strong enough to handle strong shaking of the ground. Because of this, many buildings collapse and a lot of people get hurt or killed.

I think that the number of people who died will go up to thousands once we have more information. After a major earthquake, there will probably be more smaller earthquakes called aftershocks. These aftershocks may cause more people to get hurt or even die, and they will also make it harder for rescuers to find and save people.