A powerful earthquake killed more than 820 people in Morocco

 A powerful earthquake killed more than 820 people in Morocco A report by TRT Afrika Hausa said that at least 820 people died as a result of...

 A powerful earthquake killed more than 820 people in Morocco

A report by TRT Afrika Hausa said that at least 820 people died as a result of the severe earthquake that occurred in Morocco on Friday, according to the country's Ministry of Interior.

The Moroccan television station, which quoted the Ministry of the Interior as saying this, added that 672 people were injured as a result of the 7.0-magnitude earthquake that shook many regions of the country.

Earlier, a statement issued by the country's Ministry of Interior early Saturday morning said that at least 296 people died while 153 people were injured as a result of the earthquake.

The earthquake also destroyed buildings as people fled their homes in panic.

"Interim reports show that the earthquake killed 296 people in the provinces and cities of al-Haouz, Marrakesh, Ouarzazate, Azilal, Chichaoua and Taroudant," the statement said, adding that the injured were rushed to hospital.

Some videos that have been circulating on social media whose authenticity has not been verified show how buildings are collapsing while others are shaking. People were seen in confusion while others were coming out of the ruins of buildings.

"We heard a crazy shock. Then I understood that it was an earthquake. People fell into panic and confusion. Children are crying while parents are confused," Abdelhak El Amrani, a resident of Marrakesh, told AFP by telephone.

The United States Seismological Survey [USGS] said that preliminary data showed that the earthquake in Morocco had a magnitude of 6.8 and occurred at a distance of 18 kilometers from the ground.

She said the earthquake occurred at around 11:11 p.m. local time and was strongest in an area of 56.3 kilometers west of Oukaimeden, a popular ski resort in the Atlas Mountains.

Moroccan media said the earthquake was the strongest the country had ever experienced in its history.

The earthquake was felt in Algeria, which neighbors Morocco, although the Algerian Security Service said it did not cause any damage.

In 2004, at least 628 people died and 926 were injured as a result of the earthquake that occurred in Al Hoceima in northern Morocco.