All of us at Tauck were heartbroken to learn of the tragic earthquake that impacted Morocco, and particularly the villages of the Atlas Mountains, on September 8th, 2023. Hundreds in our extended Tauck family were in Morocco as recently as February for our annual tour director seminar – and we were all struck by the amazing beauty of both its landscape and its people. Our hearts go out to everyone impacted.
Kelly Rossiter, the Senior Product Manager who designs and manages our tours in Africa, including the “Magic of Morocco” tour, landed in Morocco the morning after the earthquake and shares the following firsthand account of what she experienced there.
“I happened to be flying to Morocco for a conference in Marrakech and was in the air when the earthquake struck on Friday, September 8th at 11:11PM. I landed in Marrakech the following morning and remained there until September 15th, so all of the observations here are based on my own personal, first-hand experience.
The earthquake struck about 50 miles from Marrakech, with the epicenter closer to the Atlas Mountains. Tragically there have been just under 3,000 deaths confirmed in Morocco, with 14 of those deaths in Marrakech. All the other deaths were in the Atlas Mountains, which was mainly due to the unstable terrain, many of the homes being built of stacked rocks plastered with mud, and a general lack of preparedness because earthquakes don’t typically occur in that part of Morocco. The devastation in the mountain villages has been heartbreaking.
I’m sure you have seen reports and images of crumbled buildings and displaced Moroccans. Whereas the recovery in the mountains will take months, if not years, the recovery in Marrakech was immediate. To be sure, some buildings in Marrakech were destroyed and others were damaged, but together they only equate to about 5% of all the structures in the city. Marrakech was already open for business by the time I landed on Saturday.
While there, I watched a news organization crop the background behind a reporter to just a part of a restaurant that had a floor cave in. Had the cameraman moved the camera a few inches in either direction, he would have captured cafes full of patrons and roads full of cars and trucks carrying on with their normal business. If the cameraman had turned the camera completely around, he would have…
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