Marrakesh [Morocco], September 9 : At least 630 people were killed and 320 left injured as a magnitude 6.8 earthquake hit Morocco on Saturday. The horrified tremors of the earthquake damaged buildings and sent terrified residents fleeing their homes into the streets for safety, Al Jazeera reported.
According to Al Jazeera, residents of Marrakesh, the nearest big city to the epicentre, said some buildings collapsed in the old city, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Local television showed images of a fallen mosque minaret with rubble lying on smashed cars.
An earthquake of magnitude 6.8 on the Richter scale hit 56 km W of Oukaïmedene, Morocco late on Friday night, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) reported.
The earthquake took place at 03:41:01 (UTC+05:30) at a depth of 18.5 km. The magnitude of the earthquake caused pulses to travel from Sidi Ifni in the south to Rabat in the north and beyond.
The epicentre is 72 kilometres west of Marrakesh, a major economic centre.
According to the USGS, its epicentre was found to be Latitude: 31.110°N and Longitude: 8.440°W respectively.
Videos and pictures shared on social media showed mountains of rubble and dust clouds as walls gave way to the earthquake's intensity. In other posts, frightened locals could be seen fleeing into the street and out of nearby buildings in search of safety.
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