Morocco was hit by a rare, powerful earthquake Morocco late Friday night, resulting in a tragic loss of over 1000 lives and leaving another 1,204 people injured. The severe quake damaged buildings from the historic city of Marrakech to villages in the Atlas Mountains. Much like other earthquakes, casualty figures appear to be rising as the extent becomes clearer in rural and hard-to-reach areas.

People of all ages, including men, women, and children, remained on the streets, gripped by fear and concern about potential aftershocks, the Reuters reported.

Morocco's Interior Ministry, in the early hours of Saturday had reported that at least 296 people had died in the regions near the earthquake's epicenter. Individuals who sustained injuries were transported to hospitals for medical care. The ministry emphasised that the majority of the damage occurred in rural areas, away from urban centers and towns.

Several homes in the Al Haouz region were partly or totally collapsed, Abderrahim Ait Daoud, the leader of Talat N'Yaaqoub told Moroccan news site 2M. Additionally, electricity supply was disrupted and road access was severed in certain areas due to the earthquake's impact, he told.

He mentioned that government officials are actively engaged in the clearance of roads within the province to facilitate the movement of ambulances and the distribution of aid to affected communities. However, he pointed out that the significant distances between mountain villages will inevitably slow down the process of assessing the full extent of the damage.

Moroccans posted videos showing buildings reduced to rubble and dust. Sections of the iconic red walls that encircle Marrakech's historic old city – a UNESCO World Heritage site were also damaged by the impact of the earthquake.

Tourists and others posted videos of people screaming and evacuating restaurants in the city as throbbing club music played.

According to the US Geological Survey, the initial earthquake struck at 11:11 pm (2211 GMT) with an initial magnitude of 6.8, producing sustained shaking that lasted for several seconds. Subsequently, the agency noted the occurrence of an aftershock measuring 4.9 on the magnitude scale, which happened 19 minutes later.

The USGS reported that the epicenter was located approximately 18 kilometers (11 miles) beneath the Earth's surface, while Morocco's own seismic agency placed it at a depth of 8 kilometers (5 miles). Regardless of the specific depth measurement, shallow earthquakes like these are generally considered more hazardous due to their proximity to the Earth's surface.

The epicenter of Friday's tremor was high in the Atlas Mountains, roughly 70 kilometres (43.5 miles) south of Marrakech. It was also near Toubkal, the highest peak in North Africa and Oukaimeden, a popular Moroccan ski resort.

Earthquakes are relatively rare in North Africa. Lahcen Mhanni, Head of the Seismic Monitoring and Warning Department at the National Institute of Geophysics, told 2M TV that the earthquake was “exceptional.” “Mountainous regions in general do not produce earthquakes of this size,” he said. "It is the strongest earthquake recorded in the region.”

In 1960, a magnitude 5.8 tremor struck near the Moroccan city of Agadir and caused thousands of deaths. The Agadir quake prompted changes in construction rules in Morocco, but many buildings, especially rural homes, are not built to withstand such tremors.

Friday's quake was felt as far away as Portugal and Algeria, according to the Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere and Algeria's Civil Defence agency, which oversees emergency response.