Three mayors from the Algarve who were on a business trip to Marrakesh slept outside last night because of the earthquake that struck Morocco at the end of the day on Friday.
“We drank water in the garden outside the hotel and I was really scared by the violence and noise that the earthquake caused. I felt the earth shaking for about half a minute. I moved away from everything that could fall on me and waited.”the mayor of Loulé told the Lusa agency this morning.
Vítor Aleixo spoke with the presidents of the municipalities of Albufeira, José Carlos Rolo, and Silves, Rosa Cristina Palma, when they felt the effects of the earthquake that reached a magnitude of 7.0 on the Richter scale and occurred in the city of Ighil, located approximately 80 kilometers southwest of Marrakech at 11:11 p.m., at a depth of eight kilometers.
“We had just finished dinner and met informally outside the hotel when there was a loud noise and bang that lasted 15 to 20 seconds”said the mayor of Albufeira to Lusa.
According to reports from the two mayors, hotel guests were allowed to go to their rooms for a few minutes and then return to the outside gardens to sleep.
Vítor Aleixo stated that he tried to sleep while sitting in a chair with his legs stretched out on top of another chair as he feared aftershocks from the first earthquake.
“Anyone who got a lounger certainly slept better,” said the mayor.
José Carlos Rolo, for his part, sat in a chair and said he couldn’t sleep all night because of the sound of ambulances driving down the street.
The mayors said the hotel “may have some cracks in the walls, but the building does not seem to be affected”, unlike what happened in the historic and central part of Marrakech, where they had not yet been.
Municipal officials, accompanied by three technicians from the relevant municipalities, are trying to bring forward their return to the Algarve, which was initially scheduled for Tuesday.
Participants in the 10th International Conference on UNESCO Global Geoparks are expected to have a final meeting around lunchtime today, with all pointing out that the originally planned program had been cancelled.
This conference takes place every two years and brings together people from all over the world to share the latest discoveries and experiences on a wide range of topics, including geology, sustainable tourism, education or participatory management for sustainable development.
The three mayors were in Marrakech to promote the project to create the Algarvensis Loulé-Silves-Albufeira Geopark as a UNESCO World Geopark.
The latest toll from the earthquake that struck Morocco on Friday evening has risen to 820 dead and 672 injured, of whom 250 were seriously injured, the Moroccan Interior Ministry announced today.
The strong earthquake was felt in Portugal and Spain.
Source: DN
