The United States Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 6.8 Earthquake at a depth of about 18.5 km, roughly 56 km to the west of the ski resort of Oukaïmedene in Al Haouz Province, southern Morocco, slightly after 11.10 pm local time (slightly after 10.10 pm GMT) on Friday September 2023. The Earthquake has been described as the worst to hit Morocco in a hundred years, and is known to have resulted in at least 632 deaths, mostly in remote communities within the Atlas Mountains, where it is possible many more deaths are yet to be reported. A large number of buildings are known to have collapsed as a result the Earthquake, including some in the historic Old City area of Marrakesh. The event was felt across most of Morocco, as well as western Algeria, southern Iberia and the Canary Islands.
Morocco lies on the northernmost part of the African Plate, while Spain to the north is part of Eurasia. Africa is pushing into Europe from the south, which causes Earthquakes around the Mediterranean Basin. These are most common in southeast Europe, but those in northwest Africa, while less frequent, are often larger and more deadly.
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