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A powerful quake struck Morocco Friday night, claiming the lives of more than 2,000 people, with the toll expected to rise as rescuers struggle to reach hard-hit remote areas.
According to the Morocco's national seismic monitoring institution, the 7.0-magnitude earthquake hit the North African nation on Friday at 23:11 local time.
The epicenter of Friday's tremor was near the town of Ighil in Al Haouz Province, roughly 70 kilometers (44 miles) south of Marrakech.
One resident from the town of Taroudant says he lost two daughters in the quake when their ceiling fell in on them while they slept.
"This is God's destiny, I lost my two daughters, may God have mercy on them. Yesterday at night they were sleeping on the first floor and the ceiling fell on them. My mother was also with them, but I managed to save her. Thank God my wife, son and daughter survived. Oh God give us patience."
The earthquake was felt in cities across the country, including the country's capital Rabat, its largest city Casablanca and the ancient town of Marrakesh.
According to Moroccan officials, the earthquake damaged buildings near the epicenter, cut off power and water supplies, and blocked local traffic, making rescue efforts more difficult.
Another man says he tried to help free people from the under the rubble of their collapsed homes, even trying to help people breathe.
"Almost 31 persons died here, yesterday we used all our effort to help and rescue people here, we did what we could, but for many other people we could not help them, so they stayed under rubble, they could not breath, we helped one person to let them breath, but many other people died, we could not help them."
The Moroccan state TV said most of the earthquake casualties were from remote and inaccessible mountainous regions near the epicenter, with damaged roads further hindering rescue efforts.
Remote villages were largely cut off from the world when they lost electricity and cellphone service.
Facing the devastating aftermath, people were outside mourning neighbours and surveying the damage with their camera phones.
In the hardest-hit rural areas, Moroccans climbed through the canyons between collapsed homes that cascaded across roads and towns and tried to retrieve their dead.
Hamid ben Henna recounts the events preceding the earthquake that killed his son Marouane.
"It all started at 11pm or 11:30pm. We were having diner. I asked my son to bring a knife from the kitchen to cut desert. He didn’t bring it because as soon as he left the kitchen the earthquake struck. He ran here where you can see rubble. He was buried by a 1.5 to 2 metres of rubble."
Mr Ben Henna and his other son, Mouad, staggered out of the open door into the alleyway as their house began to collapse.
They managed to free his wife Amina and small daughter Meryem.
But as the dust settled they saw that Marouane had not made it.
Marouane's mother, Fatima, describes the scene.
"There was no light. We were in darkness and under the dust. We heard the quake and rocks and walls falling. But at first we didn’t realise what was going on. My son found the phones we used them as torches to see . Now you can see the village reduced to rubble."
The devastating earthquake has brought reactions from the global community.
Moroccans living in Australia are extremely concerned about their relatives in Morocco as the earthquake toll continues to rise.
Despite the lack of communications in the country after the quake, Moroccan activist Nadia Bouchti told SBS Arabic24 that they are still in constant contact with their relatives through the internet.
Since we are far away and don't know the extent of the damage caused by the earthquake, I cannot describe the feeling, especially at first, when we knew that the earthquake had occurred and didn't know the damage. As a result, we felt fear for our families with whom we communicated on the Internet."
Chinese President Xi Jinping has extended condolences to Moroccan King Mohammed VI over the victims of the earthquake in the country.
US President Joe Biden has also offered his condolences to those affected by the earthquake that struck Morocco.
Mr Biden, who is on a two-day visit to Vietnam, says his administration is working with Moroccan officials to ensure American citizens in Morocco are safe.
"Before I begin I want to express my sadness about the loss of life and devastation caused by the earthquake in Morocco. Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Morocco and my friend King Mohammed the seventh, the sixth I should say. And my administration, including the Secretary of State Blinken, who is here with me today, is working with Moroccan officials - long distance here - we're working expeditiously to ensure American citizens in Morocco are safe, standing ready to provide any necessary assistance to the Moroccan people."
African Union President Azali Assoumani also expressed his condolences on Sunday (September 10) during the G20 summit in New Delhi.
"I would like to express my great dismay and my emotion following the terrible earthquake that struck brotherly kingdom of Morocco causing thousands of deaths and hundreds of injured people and extensive material damage."
The United Nations estimated that 300,000 people were affected by Friday night's magnitude 6.8 quake with some Moroccans complaining on social networks that their government wasn’t allowing more help from outside.
International aid crews were prepared to deploy, but waited for the Morocco government to request their assistance.
U-N Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement that they are ready to assist the government of Morocco in helping the impacted population.
