Join on WhatsApp
Join on Telegram
Rabat – Morocco’s National Institute of Geophysics (ING) recorded a new earthquake of 4.0 magnitude degrees on the Richter scale in Driouch province, eastern Morocco, on Sunday, August 1.
The earthquake epicenter was located off Driouch and took place at 11:48 p.m, ING said
It took place at a depth of 13 kilometers at a latitude of 35.416 North and a longitude of 3304 West, ING said.
This is the fifth earthquake that took place in the region in one week.
ING reported on Friday four earthquakes with magnitudes between 3.8 and 4.7 degrees on the Richter scale in the Driouch province.
The epicenter of the four tremors were located off the coast of Driouch province.
The province experienced several similar tremors in recent years.
Speaking about the frequent occurrence of earthquakes in the region, Nasser Jebbour, head of division at ING, said that the earthquakes recently registered in Driouch and nearby provinces, including Al Hoceima and Nador, are aftershocks of the main tremor that took place in January 2016.
The latest tremor was considered relatively violent, with a magnitude of 6.3 on the Richter scale.
Jebbour emphasized that despite the long period between the mainshock and the aftershocks, the repeated occurrence of minor quakes within the Driouch province is “normal.”
The delay in aftershocks is also due to the “complex geology of the northern coastal strip adjacent to the Alboran Sea or the western part of the Mediterranean, ” he argued.
“These tremors fill a void in terms of seismic activity in the maritime area. We made sure that these are aftershocks and not premonitory jolts,” Jebbour said in July.
