World Rushes to Help Moroccan Quake Survivors

RABAT, Morocco, February 27, 2004 (ENS) - At least 571 people have lost their lives and hundreds more are injured following a severe earthquake of 6.3 magnitude, which hit the remote northeast region of Al-Hoceima early Tuesday morning. Outlying villages in the Rif Mountains were jolted the hardest. Mud brick houses collapsed on their sleeping inhabitants killing hundreds, and leaving the thousands of homeless survivors terrified of returning to remaining structures.

The region affected by the earthquake has a population of close to 300,000. Although complete information is still not available, humanitarian officials say the number of homeless could be as high as 30,000.

Survivors of the quake mourn their losses in a tent provided by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent. (Photo courtesy IFRC)

A crowd of about 1,200 people gathered in the streets of the hard hit town of Im Zouren on Thursday urging their own government not to sit on the sidelines while other countries fly to the rescue. The Moroccan military broke up the demonstration, leaving several people injured.

The Moroccan government has announced that the search and rescue phase is finished, although relief workers are still having difficulty reaching the most remote affected areas. The last survivor was a four year old girl pulled from the rubble on Thursday, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC) said.

According to media reports, Interior Minister Mustapha Sahel said that the government is distributing 1,300 tents and creating two temporary camps in the village of Ait Kamara and in Al Hoceima. The armed forces are expected to establish three other camps of up to 400 tents equipped with electricity and drinking water.

Sahel visited the site on Wednesday and King Mohamed VI is expected to visit the traumatized villages shortly.

Some 180 European rescue workers have arrived in Morocco to help with search and rescue efforts, and the United States has sent a six person disaster relief team.

Nine Red Cross and Red Crescent relief flights have arrived, bringing in over 100 metric tons of relief materials in support of the Moroccan Red Crescent emergency operation for the homeless. The IFRC set up a tented camp on Thursday in Im Zouren that is now sheltering about 700 people.

Packages of relief supplies await distribution to Moroccan quake survivors. (Photo courtesy IFRC)

On Wednesday, the federation launched an appeal for 2.8 million Swiss francs (US$ 2.3 million) to provide assistance for up to 30,000 people over the next six months.

Neighboring Red Crescent societies from Algeria, Egypt, Libya and Tunisia have sent relief supplies. Two flights have arrived from Algeria carrying over 20 tons of humanitarian aid including medicines, clothing and food.

The European Commission Thursday doubled its initial pledge to €975,000 (US$1.21 million) for urgent relief as field reports coming in to the Commission's Monitoring and Information Centre in Brussels throughout the day identified significant additional requirements for assistance to the earthquake victims.

The United States has provided $50,000 to the Moroccan Red Crescent Society, as well as emergency relief supplies. The U.S. Embassy in Rabat says that as of Wednesday, USAID's Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance had shipped 10,000 wool blankets, 1,000 tents, and three World Health Organization Emergency Health Kits, designed to serve a population of 30,000 for three months.

A United Nations inter-agency assessment team is travelling to the earthquake area today with representives from UNICEF, the World Food Programme, and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs to determine what the international community can do in the coming days to provide further relief.