Morocco earthquake kills more than 1,000

A powerful earthquake in Morocco has killed more than 1,000 people. Rescue attempts are made more difficult as the quake’s epicenter is in the rugged Atlas Mountains.

NATHAN ROTT, HOST:

A rare powerful earthquake struck Morocco late Friday night, claiming thousands of lives. The US Geological Survey says the 6.8 magnitude quake lasted for several seconds in a region that lies along the fault lines of the European and African tectonic plates. NPR’s Eleanor Beardsley has been following the situation from France, and she joins us now. Hello, Eleanor.

ELEANOR BEARDSLEY, BYLINE: Hello, Nate.

ROTT: All right. So what’s the latest?

BEARDSLEY: Well, you know, this earthquake took place about 11:30 Friday night. The epicenter was in the snowcapped Atlas Mountains, about 45 miles southwest of the popular tourist city of Marrakesh. And right now, rescue efforts are underway. All day in France, we’ve been seeing footage of, you know, cracked and collapsed buildings, cars under rubble and people running in panic. Morocco is a big French tourist destination, and also, a lot of French people live there and do business. Here is Franco-Moroccan businessman Youssef Dou (ph), interviewed on French TV.

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YOUSSEF DOU: (Non-English language spoken).

BEARDSLEY: He said there were scenes of panic. People were running everywhere, including many tourists. He says he took his car out after it happened, and there were roads completely blocked with rubble. Minarets were collapsed, houses crumbled, and a lot of people were outside their houses who just didn’t know what to do. You know, many are predicting the number of dead and injured is going to go way up from the 1,300 dead they’ve just announced.

ROTT: Wow. So you mentioned rescue efforts. What’s the status of those rescue attempts?

BEARDSLEY: Well, it’s very difficult because the most hard-hit area, the epicenter, is in the Atlas Mountains. You know, unlike this…