Months after disaster, survivors of earthquake in Atlas Mountains of Morocco endure harsh conditions as government support remains lacking
BY: Dr. Hana Saada
ALGIERS- Several months have passed since the September 2023 earthquake in Morocco, which turned many scattered villages amidst the Atlas Mountains into rubble. Many survivors are still awaiting government assistance, alongside others, amidst a harsh winter.
In the village of “Douarzrou,” Abdoullah Oublaïd and other survivors sift through rubble daily, searching for pieces of wood to use for heating and cooking, or any valuable items they lost when the earthquake destroyed their homes on the night of September 8.
Situated atop a mountain about 80 kilometers from Marrakech, the village, whose name means “under the rock” in Amazigh, now only consists of a mosque minaret covered in pink and white paint.
The devastated village lost approximately 80 of its inhabitants, according to survivors’ testimonies. However, verifying the exact number remains challenging in the absence of a detailed casualty toll, with an estimated 3,000 individuals affected, according to authorities.
The earthquake affected over 60,000 people in around three thousand villages, most of which are difficult to access due to rugged mountain trails.
A few kilometers from what remains of Douarzrou village, survivors live in tents or makeshift shelters made of cement bricks erected on a nearby plain along the road leading to the village. Snow-capped mountain peaks are visible from this location.
Abdoullah Oublaïd (35 years old) expresses bitterness, saying, “Every time I inquire, I’m told that support will arrive… I have children waiting for food and clothing.”
Protests have not been limited to Douarzrou village. Local media reported protests by hundreds of survivors in the “Telat Ni’aqoub” village and the Taroudant region in January, protesting the slow reconstruction and distribution of aid, as winter exacerbates their living conditions.
Fatima El Tameeni, a deputy from the Left Federation, recently raised the issue in a question addressed to the Minister of the Interior in the Makhzen government, Abdellatif Loudiyi, regarding “the exclusion of earthquake victims from support and compensation for damages.”
The Makhzen authorities attributed their refusal to grant some support requests to the fact that the applicants do not reside in the earthquake-affected areas or because their homes were not damaged to the extent that rendered them uninhabitable, according to their claims.
In larger towns situated at the foothills, such as Amizmiz (60 kilometers from Marrakech), signs of normal life are gradually returning. However, dozens of tents are still erected in empty squares to accommodate those who lost their homes, covered with transparent fabrics for protection against rain and cold.
In the face of freezing cold in the highlands, survivors in Douarzrou village benefit from small shelters built with heat-resistant techniques, thanks to Dutch and Moroccan associations, covered with aluminum sheets.
Hamed Omhand (68 years old) says, “If these shelters didn’t exist, many would have fallen victim to the strong winds that blew in recent days… they saved us.”
Omhand gathers signatures on a petition demanding the Makhzen authorities to rebuild Douarzrou village, once all aid is disbursed, but in another location at the foot of the mountain.
Village residents insist on staying on their land but fear the collapse of the rocks that once embraced their homes, as the tragedy repeats.
Survivors still endure the shock left by the disaster in their minds, in addition to their difficult living conditions, where doctors do not visit them, and their resources dwindle, as Omhand warns.
He adds, explaining that all the inhabitants of this village lost loved ones and faced the disaster alone when the earthquake struck. “Some of them had to sneak out from under the rubble… and some are still in shock,” while others “lost their senses.”
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