Fears of further devastation gripped the residents of Chichaoua province this morning in the aftermath of a powerful 4.6 aftershock. Cracks in already damaged buildings widened, some homes collapsed entirely, and landslides in villages surrounded by mountains blocked the roads and cut off access to some areas.
Six people in villages spread out in Chichaoua province told MoroccoLatestNews that the aftershock left residents in tears, praying for help and comforting each other as they left their camps and gathered in groups, waiting for the shaking to subdue.
“It was very harsh everyone came out rushing out of the tents. Children cried and everyone heard the ground rattle,” Mohammad Amzil in Tanammert village said.
With many people feeling overwhelmed and devastated, the emotional toll of the aftershock is adding to the stress and trauma caused by the initial earthquake. “Some people were screaming and reciting Chahada,” Saeid Baid in Azmou said.
The toll was particularly heavy for those living in villages surrounded by mountains, like in Azmou where Baid lives. Thankfully, the area did not experience any landslides, but many homes were left with cracks and other damage from the aftershock.
In the village of Tighoula, houses that had survived the first earthquake collapsed during the aftershock, while landslides closed in on the already devastated community.
Ten families emerged from the campsite, their faces bearing the physical and emotional scars of the disaster.
Landslides on roads are adding stress to residents in the earthquake-stricken area of Tahandourt where survivors are worried that aid would not reach them today.
So far today, no aid caravan has arrived.
In Sidi Hssain in Amizmiz, two houses collapsed during today’s aftershock, a local told MoroccoLatestNews.
Seismic monitors registered a tremor measuring 4.6 on the Richter scale at around seven in the morning.
Smaller aftershocks are continuing to rattle the area, including one that sent stones falling on Monday night on road 203 leading up to the center of the earthquake.
Local residents and eyewitnesses reported to MoroccoLatestNews that on Monday night falling stones from the mountainside had killed six volunteers on the road.