No casualties have been reported at the time of writing.
Rabat – Morocco’s National Geophysical Institute (ING) yesterday recorded an earthquake of 4.1 degrees on the Richter scale in the province of Driouch, 55 kilometers from the northern city of Nador.
ING declared that the tremor’s epicenter was in the rural village of Oulad Amghar and happened at 6:51:42 p.m. local time.
The shake was 13 kilometers deep, at 35,569 degrees North latitude and 3,580 degrees West, ING added.
No casualties have been reported at the time of writing.
Driouch province experienced a strong earthquake on December 5, 2019, of 4.0 degrees on the Richter scale. The epicenter of the December quake was in the village of Talilit, with a depth of 16 kilometers.
The north of Morocco sees several earthquakes every year. Most recently, an earthquake with a magnitude of 3.6 degrees hit the commune of Tifarouine, near the province of El Hoceima.
On September 6, an earthquake of 4.0 degrees on the Richter scale hit the province of Tetouan, also in northern Morocco.
The province of Taounate, also in the north of Morocco, 87 kilometers from the city of Fez, saw two earthquakes in five days.
One on June 30 with a magnitude of 4.9 degrees on the Richter scale, and a second on July 5 with a magnitude of 3.4 degrees.
The city of Al Hoceima recorded one of the deadliest earthquakes in the country in 2004.
With a magnitude of 6.3 degrees, the tremor had a maximum perceived intensity of IX (violent) on the Mercalli intensity scale. It killed more than 600 people, injured 926, and left 15,000 homeless.
In 1960, Agadir recorded the deadliest shake in the history of Morocco, a violent earthquake of 5.8 on the Richter scale with a maximum perceived intensity of X (extreme) on the Mercalli intensity scale.
The 1960 tremor killed over 15,000, injured 12,000, and left 35,000 homeless.
