2023 Marrakesh-Safi earthquake

One Mw 6.9 earthquake hit de Marrakesh-Safi region for Morocco for 8 September 2023 around 23:11 DST (22:11 UTC). Dis earthquake happen for de place wey dey locate 71.8 km (44.6 mi) southwest of Marrakesh, near de town of Ighil den de Oukaïmeden ski resort for de Atlas Mountains insyd. E happen secof shallow oblique-thrust fault for under de mountain range. At least dem report 1,037 deaths, wey chaw occur outsyd Marrakesh. Damage be widespread, wey dey include historic landmarks insyd Marrakesh. Spain, Portugal, den Algeria sanso feel de earthquake.

## Tectonic setting
Morocco dey near de place wey de African Plate den de Eurasian Plate dey meet, for de Azores–Gibraltar Transform Fault. Dis place dey get right-lateral strike-slip wey turn go transpressional for de eastern syd, wey e make large thrust faults. As you waka go eastern syd of de Strait of Gibraltar, for de Alboran Sea, de boundary e be lyk say dem dey jam each oda. Most of de earthquake for Morocco e happen because of dis boundary, den de place wey get de highest earthquake wahala na for de north of de country wey dey close to de boundary. For 2004, Al Hoceima bin experience earthquake wey be magnitude 6.3 den e kill 628 people den injure 926. For 1980, Algeria wey dey close by get earthquake wey be magnitude 7.3 den e kill 2,500 people.

De Atlas Mountains be mountains wey dey insyd Africa wey e stretch from Morocco go Tunisia for about 2,000 km (1,200 mi). Dis mountains form as dem jam each oda for de Cenozoic times. De highest part of dis mountain range dey for de west, insyd Morocco. Earthquake wahala for Morocco e dey mostly for de northern syd of de country den for de Alboran Sea. For de south part of de Rif mountains, earthquake no too dey but e dey spread for de Middle, High den Anti Atlas mountains. De Saharan Atlas mountains get small earthquake den de place wey dey south of de belt for Sahara, no get earthquake at all. As you waka go east for Algeria den Tunisia, de earthquake level go down. Before before, de biggest earthquake wey dem record for de Atlas Mountains na de one wey happen for Agadir for 1960, e be Mw  5.9 earthquake. De earthquakes wey dey de Atlas Mountains, dem dey show say e fit be strike-slip, thrust, anaa combination of both (oblique-slip).

## Earthquake
Dis earthquake wey happen for Morocco be de biggest wey dem record so far using instruments. E big pass all de ones wey dem record before, apart from de one for 1755 for Meknes wey dem think fit be between Mw 6.5–7.0. De Global Centroid Moment Tensor (GCMT) talk say de magnitude na Mw 6.9. E happen for 18.5 km (11.5 mi) down for insyd ground, den according to United States Geological Survey (USGS), e get magnitude of Mww 6.8. Morocco seismic agency talk say e happen for 8 km (5.0 mi) down den e get magnitude of 7.2. European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre yan say people for Portugal, Spain, Mauritania, Algeria, Western Sahara den for de coast wey dey near de Strait of Gibraltar, all of dem feel de earthquake. Some people wey see am talk say e last for lyk 20 seconds. After de main earthquake, anoda one wey be aftershock with magnitude 4.9 happen 19 minutes later.

According to USGS, de earthquake get mechanism wey show say e happen because of oblique-thrust faulting wey dey under High Atlas. De thing wey cause de earthquake dey either for one steep-dipping oblique-reverse fault wey dey go northwest anaa shallow-dipping oblique-reverse fault wey dey go east. Dem also talk say de place wey de fault break cover about 30 km (19 mi) by 20 km (12 mi). For insyd High Atlas, dem get plenti east-west den northeast-southwest strike-slip den thrust faults. From 1900 till now, no earthquake wey get magnitude pass Mw  6.0 don happen within 500 km (310 mi) from where de recent earthquake happen, but nine earthquakes wey get magnitude pass Mw  5.0 happen for de east syd.

## Impact
According to state-run TV wey talk from Moroccan Interior Ministry, at least 820 people die den 672 odas wound. E get 205 people wey wound serious. De people wey die, 290 of dem die for Al-Haouz, 190 for Taroudant, 89 for Chichaoua, 30 for Ouarzazate, 13 for Marrakesh, 11 for Azilal, five for Agadir, three for Casablanca, den one for Youssoufia. Plenty of de people wey die, dem die for places wey far from Marrakesh. For Moulay Brahim, people been dey trapped under collapsed buildings den volunteers dey try rescue dem.

Some old houses for Marrakesh den sam parts of de city walls fall down, e trap families under de rubble. For Jemaa el-Fnaa, de minaret of de Kharboush Mosque den sam parts of de walls also fall, e scatter motor wey dey under. Dem yan say de Koutoubia Mosque also get damage. Videos wey dey go round for social media show plenty rubble den dust everywhere. Some buildings for de Medina of Marrakesh, wey UNESCO don recognize as World Heritage Site wey dem build since 12th century, dem sanso fall down. Light no dey, so e cause wahala for internet connection.

De Interior Ministry talk say de main damage wey de earthquake cause happen for places wey dey far from cities den towns. For de place wey dey near de earthquake center for High Atlas, public TV channel Al Aoula talk say many buildings fall down. For de center wey be de town of Al-Haouz, one house fall down wey e trap de people wey dey insyd. Dem yan say most of de houses for Asni get damage. For some oda towns wey dey near de center, houses fall down partly anaa dem komot fini. Light den road sef no dey for sam areas.

In Essaouira, parts of facades reportedly fall off.

## Aftermath
People for Marrakesh dey komot de rubble plus dema hand as dem dey wait for equipment to show. Plenty people dey fear say anoda earthquake fi happen, so dem no wan dey insyd house. Media wey dem post for social media show people wey dey komot from shopping center, restaurants, den apartment buildings. For de capital Rabat, wey dey 350 km (220 mi) north of where de earthquake happen, den for Imsouane, one coastal town, people sanso boot komot from dema houses.

De General Secretary for de Directorate General of Internal Affairs talk say government officials, wey dey include security teams, dey gather resources to help people wey need am den to check how de damage be. Plenty people wey wound show for hospital for Marrakesh. Dem beg de people wey dey de city make dem donate blood. For de morning of 9th September, about 200 people, wey include tourists, go hospital come donate blood. As dem check de damage for Marrakesh, e be lyk say most of de city no too get wahala.

Local news agency 2M share videos of emergency vehicles wey dey waka for dirty road. De rescue missions jam wahala as de roads for de mountainous area block well well with cars den stones wey fall. For Al-Haouz Province, dem come move de stones komot from de road so that ambulance den aid fi reach de places wey need am.

## References