At least 2,122 people have been killed in the earthquake that hit Morocco and 2,421 have been hospitalised, state-run broadcaster 2M said Sunday.
The magnitude-6.8 quake is the biggest to hit the North African country in 120 years.
Many fled their homes in terror and disbelief late Friday, and rescuers warn that the toll is still expected to rise.
The quake brought down walls made from stone and masonry, covering whole communities with rubble.
The destruction struck each community along the High Atlas’ steep and winding switchbacks in similar ways: homes folding in on themselves and parents crying as rescuers and police in helmet carried the dead through the streets.
Drought-hit villages like the Ouargane Valley were mostly cut off from the world when they lost electricity and cellphone service.
People were seen outside mourning neighbours, surveying the damage on their camera phones and telling one another “May God save us.”
In historic Marrakesh, people could be seen on state TV clustering in the streets, afraid to go back inside buildings that might still be unstable.
The city’s famous Koutoubia Mosque, built in the 12th century, was damaged, but the extent was not immediately clear. Its 69-meter minaret is known as the “roof of Marrakech.”
Many Moroccans also shared videos showing damage to parts of the famous red walls that surround the old city, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
At least 2,122 people died in the quake, mostly in Marrakesh and five other provinces near the epicenter. Hundreds of people were injured with over 1,220 in critical condition, the government said.
“The problem is that where destructive earthquakes are rare, buildings are simply not constructed robustly enough to cope with strong ground shaking, so many collapse, resulting in high casualties,” said Bill McGuire, professor emeritus of geophysical and climate hazards at University College London.
Morocco’s King Mohammed VI ordered the armed forces to commence a specialised search and rescue teams and a surgical field hospital.
The king visited the hardest hit area Saturday, but despite an outpouring of offers of help from around the world, the Moroccan government had not formally asked for assistance, a step required before outside rescue crews could deploy.
The epicenter of Friday’s tremor was near the town of Ighil in Al Haouz Province. The Al Haouz is known for scenic villages and valleys tucked in the High Atlas Mountains.
World leaders offered to send in aid or rescue crews as condolences poured in from Africa, Europe, the Middle East and the Group of 20 summit in India.
In a bold move, neighbouring rival Algeria offered to open its airspace to allow eventual humanitarian aid or medical evacuation flights to travel to and from Morocco.
Algeria closed the airspace when its government severed diplomatic ties with Morocco in 2021 over a series of issues. The countries have a long drawn dispute involving the territory of Western Sahara – a people seeking self determination and independence.
While earthquakes are relatively rare in North Africa. Lahcen Mhanni, Head of the Seismic Monitoring and Warning Department at the National Institute of Geophysics, told 2M TV that the earthquake was the strongest ever recorded in the region.
Thousands of deaths was recorded in 1960 after a magnitude 5.8 tremor struck near the Moroccan city of Agadir.
