The Morocco earthquake was caused due to a collision between the African and Eurasian plates
On September 8, 2023, an earthquake rocked Morocco with a magnitude of 6.8 on the Richter scale. More than 2,900 people have died with more than 1,200 injured.
The epicentre is said to be in High Atlas Mountains — 71 km south-west of the city of Marrakesh. The earthquake caused major destruction to life and buildings with major destruction in parts of Medina — a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Large earthquakes are relatively rare in Morocco. The last quake occurred eight months back, just outside Agadir. Before that, there were no reports of earthquakes for the past eight years within a 500 km radius of the current epicentre.
So, what is the reason behind such high intensity earthquakes? The Morocco earthquake was caused due to a collision between the African and Eurasian plates.
The Morocco Seismic agency pegged the depth of the earthquake at 11 km, which is too shallow for such a high intensity earthquake. According to experts, earthquakes with low depth are relatively more dangerous as they carry more energy while emerging to the surface.
Although quakes with more depth spread farther as seismic waves move upwards to the surface, they lose energy while travelling greater distances. So the intensity of damage is relatively less.
Another major reason for such high destruction is that Morocco does not frequently face earthquakes, so its buildings are not built with such preparations. The buildings are packed closely to each other.
These issues are quite similar to that of Syria-Turkey where a 7.8 magnitude earthquake killed over 60,000 people. Sadly, poor construction is common in places where the cost of building material supersedes labour costs.
These disasters are a reminder that there are pressing issues of economic growth and insufficient building codes and standards in such regions.
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