By Bond Robertson 
The earthquake, with a magnitude of 6.8, was recorded at 11.11 pm on Friday local time.
The center is located in the Atlas Mountains between Marrakesh and Agadir.
According to measurements by the German Research Institute GFZThe depth of the earthquake reached 27 kilometers.
At least 296 people are said to have been killed and 153 others injured. The injured were transferred to the hospital. This was reported by Moroccan official television, citing the Ministry of Interior.
A car covered in dust in Marrakesh, Morocco.
Photo: Al Oula TV/Reuters
I think the death toll will rise
On social media, people reported severe damage to many buildings struck by the earthquake.
The epicenter was quickly classified as an area where people lived in buildings that were not well secured against earthquakes.
Al Jazeera He writes on its pages that between eight and ten million live in the affected areas.
US Geological Survey He writes that the extent of the earthquake may have been larger than first thought. They expect severe damage to buildings and believe the death toll is likely to rise.
The strongest in a century
Several people reported to the European Earthquake Center (EMSC) that it was strong.
Some say they could feel the quake as far away as southern Spain, Portugal and Algeria.
According to the country’s Geological Institute, Friday’s earthquake is the strongest to hit Morocco in a century. Al Jazeera writes that. The USGS also wrote that the quake would be the strongest in North Africa in 120 years.
CNNRescue workers are struggling to reach the worst-hit areas, he wrote, citing state television.
Roads leading to and from the earthquake areas were also affected, making access difficult.
The epicenter of the earthquake was located between the cities of Marrakesh in the picture and Agadir.
Photography: Al Maghribi Al Youm/Reuters
-Our neighbors are in ruins
Montaser Otri, who lives in the mountainous village of Asni near the epicenter of the earthquake, says that most of the houses there are destroyed.
Our neighbors are under the rubble and people are now working to save them. “We use all the means we have in the village,” he says.
Residents of Marrakesh, a city of one million, talk of ambulances in shuttle traffic, shaking walls and uncertain morning hours.
-I’m still on the street with my children. “We are afraid,” says 43-year-old Hoda Hafsi.
In Marrakesh, a number of residents slept outside in the city square last night.
Photography: Fadel Sina/Agence France-Presse
Run out to the streets
Morocco is regularly exposed to earthquakes in the northern regions of the country. The country is located between the African and Eurasian continental plates.
Videos circulating on social media show people running in the streets and buildings shaking.
People living in the capital, Rabat, in the north of the country, and in the coastal city of Imsouane, also felt the shaking well.
There, people ran into the streets for fear of more earthquakes, according to eyewitnesses Reuters spoke to.
In several cities, people spent the night in the streets for fear of aftershocks, as is the case here in Casablanca.
Photography: Abdelhak Belhaqi – Reuters
Both India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, and Germany’s Prime Minister, Olaf Scholz, issued their condolences on X/Twitter.
– In this tragic hour, my thoughts go out to the Moroccan people. Sending my condolences to those who have lost loved ones, Modi writes.
– In these difficult hours, our thoughts go to the victims of the devastating earthquake. “Our condolences to everyone affected by this natural disaster,” Schultz writes.