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#Morocco earthquake updates: Photos show devastating aftermath; death toll up to over 1,300

Shock and disbelief blanket Morocco as rescuers scour rubble caused by a 6.8-magnitude earthquake that has killed more than 1,300 people.

Survivors told harrowing tales. The Associated Press reports Ayoub Toudite said he was at the gym in Moulay Brahim with friends when they felt a huge shake “like it was doomsday.” Moulay Brahim is along a mountainside in Morocco.

“We found casualties and people running and kids crying,” he said. “We never saw anything like this, 20 deaths in the area, 30 injuries.”

At least 1,305 people died and another 1,832 people were injured, Morocco’s Interior Ministry reported Saturday. Of the injured, the ministry wrote, 1,220 were in critical condition. The U.S. Geological Survey said the epicenter was roughly 43.5 miles south of Marrakech.

The latest casualty estimates were up from the 1,037 people reported dead earlier in the day.

“I can’t reconstruct my home. I don’t know what I’ll do. Still, I’m alive, so I’ll wait,” said Hamid Idsalah, 72, as he walked through drought-stricken Ouargane Valley. “I feel heartsick.”

In Moulay Brahim, an impoverished mountain community, a tent was erected for shelter. Clay and brick homes were uninhabitable after the quake.

More than a dozen of blanket-covered bodies were carried down to a health center where doctors treated injured people. Hundreds of men gathered and knelt on rugs and held funeral traditions before burying bodies.

Fathers sobbed into phones telling loved ones about losing their children.

“There’s nothing to do but pray,” said Hamza Lamghani, who lost five of his closest friends.

Background: More than 1,000 dead in Morocco earthquake

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It’s the biggest quake to hit the country in 120 years. The tragedy hit some buildings made from stone and masonry not designed to withstand quakes.

President Joe Biden said in a Saturday statement his administration is in contact with Moroccan officials and is working to ensure Americans in the country are safe. He said the U.S. is standing by, along with other nations, to provide assistance. Morocco’s government hasn’t formally asked for outside assistance.

The famous Koutoubia Mosque in Marrakech, built in the 12th century, was damaged, but the extent was not immediately clear. Its 226-foot minaret is known as the “roof of Marrakech.” Muslims use the mosque daily for prayers, weddings and funerals, according to the mosque’s tourism website.

See photos from the quake’s aftermath and rescue efforts:

A woman inspects the damage following a 6.8-magnitude quake in Marrakesh on Sept. 9, 2023. A powerful earthquake that shook Morocco late Sept. 8 killed more than 600 people, interior ministry figures showed, sending terrified residents fleeing their homes in the middle of the night.

September 9, 2023: Rescuers search for survivors under the rubble of a collapsed house in Moulay Brahim, Al Haouz province, after an earthquake. Morocco's deadliest earthquake in decades has killed at least 820 people, officials said on Sept. 9, causing widespread damage and sending terrified residents and tourists scrambling to safety in the middle of the night.

Rescue workers search for survivors in a collapsed house in Moulay Brahim, Al Haouz province, on Sept. 9, 2023, after an earthquake. Morocco's deadliest earthquake in decades has killed at least 820 people, officials said on Sept. 9, causing widespread damage and sending terrified residents and tourists scrambling to safety in the middle of the night.

People mourn in front of the body of a victim killed in an earthquake in Moulay Brahim, Al Haouz province, on September 9, 2023. Morocco's deadliest earthquake in decades has killed at least 820 people, officials said on Sept. 9, causing widespread damage and sending terrified residents and tourists scrambling to safety in the middle of the night.

Residents stay out at a square following an earthquake in Marrakesh on Sept. 9, 2023. Nearly 300 people were killed after a powerful earthquake rattled Morocco on Sept. 8, according to a preliminary government count, with Marrakesh residents reporting "unbearable" screams followed the 6.8-magnitude quake.

Contributing: Sam Metz, Mosa’ab Eishamy, Angela Charlton, Ahmed Hatem, Brian Melley, Hadia Bakkar, Associated Press.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Morocco earthquake updates: Death toll rises; photos of aftermath

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