Morocco feels the earth move.

Although most people in Fez were oblivious to it - the earth did move on Monday at around 10.30 GMT. Yes, another earthquake, although according to a number of reports it only lasted a few seconds and resulted in no damage and no injuries. The interesting thing according to seismologists is that this appears to be part of an earthquake cluster with the last two earthquakes hitting on the 30th of January. In that case it was probably a primary quake and an after-shock, as this first was just over seven on the Richter scale and the second down to level five.

Monday's quake was reported by news agencies in the region with the Kuwait News Agency saying that the people "rushed onto the streets" and saying that it struck Rabat, Kanitra, Al-Jadida and Casablanca. According to the Moroccan Geophysics Institute, the weak magnitude of the earth tremor was so low that it was unable to produce a tsunami.

Head of the service of earthquake surveillance at the ING, Jebbour Nacer, told a Moroccan TV channel that the tremor, registering 6.3 points on the Richter scale, and we can expect it to be followed by weaker quakes.The epicenter according to ING was about 260km offshore from the capital, Rabat.

The Facts

The U.S. Geological Survey report states that the 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck at 1035 GMT 335 kms (210 miles) from Lisbon and 345 km (215 miles) north-west of Casablanca in Morocco.

Portugal's press also reported the quake being felt in Lisbon and the Spaniards were saying it hit Andalucia. Reuters was reporting that "Mobile phones briefly stopped working as people made urgent calls to check relatives were safe. The tremor revived painful memories of an earthquake in the Moroccan town of Al Hoceima in 2004 which killed nearly 600 people and made thousands homeless."


Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news