A strong 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck Morocco on Friday night, killing more than 800 people. Rui Dias has been working in an area near the epicenter, studying the tectonic fault where the earthquake occurred. The geologist from the University of Évora explains that an intense earthquake was foreseeable, but he was surprised by the violence of the shock. In an area that is difficult to access, the expert admits that some towns have been completely destroyed.
“We know that it was an active fault zone and it was expected that intense movements and earthquakes could occur somewhere. It is a fault that has a series of small towns next to it, some of which cannot even be reached by car, can be reached on foot, they are all towns with very precarious constructions, often stone upon stone, so it is expected that there will be big problems and the number of deaths has been increasing because there are towns that, for sure, will only be few days, or because there are no roads or access is very complicated. “Some villages may have been completely destroyed,” he says. TSF Rui Días.
Rui Dias adds that it is normal for there to be aftershocks, but the shock felt in some areas of Portugal does not mean that an earthquake of this intensity could occur in our country in the coming days.
“There are a number of faults in Portugal that have the potential to cause earthquakes, but this was a structure that moved very far from us and therefore this earthquake will have no effect on earthquakes that may or may not occur in Portugal ” , guarantees.
“It is normal that the earthquake has been felt in several areas of Portugal, but people can be as relaxed as yesterday before the earthquake that occurred south of Marrakech, because one thing has nothing to do with the other,” he emphasizes.
The high number of victims in Morocco is also explained by the fragility of the country’s structures. heard by TSFProfessor of Geophysics at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon Luís Matias recalls that the area was already identified as having high seismic risk.
“There was already a tremendous earthquake there in terms of victims, which was the Agadir earthquake in 1960, which caused more than 10,000 victims, most due to the fragility of the buildings. This is an area already known for seismic activity,” It is located in the Atlas, which is an area with a recognized active mountain range. My colleagues who have worked in Morocco identify active structures, so it was surely an area already identified from the point of view of seismic risk. The question is what is it? “It happens with old buildings and anyone who has visited Morocco can clearly see the fragility of those buildings and, therefore, in the event of an earthquake that causes greater vibration, these more fragile buildings run the risk of collapsing and victimizing the people inside.” , Explain.
The next few hours will be a lot of work for the authorities. At this point there are more than 30 replicas and Luís Matias admits that the number may not stop there
“These are times of intense Civil Protection activity. The usual thing is that the number of aftershocks and their magnitude decreases over time, but unfortunately planet Earth has already accustomed us to something unusual appearing from time to time,” he emphasizes.
At least 820 people were killed and another 672 injured after a strong earthquake hit Morocco on Friday night.
The province with the most registered victims is Al Haouz, south of Marrakech and close to the epicenter, with 394 deaths, according to the balance until 10:00 local time (same time in Lisbon), cited by the Spanish agency EFE.
They are followed by Taroudant (271 deaths), Chichaoua (91), Ouarzazate (31), Marrakech (13), Azilal (11), Agadir (5), Casablanca (3) and Al Youssufia (1).
According to the National Institute of Geophysics of Morocco, the earthquake reached a magnitude of 7.0 on the Richter scale and occurred in the Marrakech region (north) at 11:11 p.m., at a depth of eight kilometers.
The epicenter occurred in the town of Ighil, located about 80 kilometers southwest of Marrakech.
The strong earthquake was felt in Portugal and Spain.
*with Carolina Quaresma
Source: TSF
