Quake Kills 229 in Morocco

A powerful earthquake struck northern Morocco today, destroying buildings and killing at least 229 people.

The quake shook rural areas near the mediterranean port city of Al Hoceima, and the Red Cross said up to 500,000 people in six outlying villages may have been affected.

Major devastation was feared in at least two of the villages - Ait Kamra and Imzourn - where 30,000 people live in mud structures unable to withstand a major natural disaster.

The MAP state news agency put the provisional death toll at 229 and 120 injured, making it the worst earthquake to hit the north African country in more than 40 years.

The death toll was expected to rise above 300 as rescuers continued the search for survivors and victims trapped under rubble.

In Al Hoceima, the main Mohammed V hospital was reportedly struggling to cope with the influx of casualties. An emergency doctor at the hospital said: "As soon as we think we've seen all the dead and injured, more keep coming in ambulances."

Many of the casualties were being treated in an army barracks and in health centres. Others were being airlifted to cities including the capital Rabat, Casablanca and Meknes.

More than 160 of the deaths were in ImZourn, 18km south of Al Hoceima. Many houses in the village were flattened by the earthquake.

"Many people are still trapped under the rubble, we have no equipment," Hassan Hmidouch, head of the town council, told Reuters Television. "It's a total disaster, the world needs to help us... We don't have sniffer dogs or any equipment to lift or cut iron bars."

A civil defence spokesman in Al Hoceima said the village of Ait Kamra, 14 km to the south of the city, was "completely destroyed" and "there are many dead". Most houses in the village were built of mud bricks and had collapsed, he said.

In Al Hoceima, residents were reported to have jumped out of their beds and rushed into the streets when the quake struck. But buildings in the city of about 70,000 inhabitants appeared to have escaped severe damage, according to initial reports.

Josephine Shields, a north African delegate for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) in Tunis, said six villages within 15km of Al Hoceima had been hit.

She said: "Ait Kamara has been reported to be totally destroyed. We've been told that the entire affected area has between 300,000 and 400,000 people. It is a remote area, very mountainous, so it is a bit difficult to access."

She said victims needed blankets, warm clothing, food and water. "There is possibly a need for a field hospital as local health facilities are basically saturated," she added.

King Mohammed VI promised all to mobilise all available "human and material resources" for the stricken region, calling the disaster a "challenge of destiny".

The US Geological Survey said the quake measured 6.5 on the Richter scale and struck at about 02.30 GMT. A magnitude of six can cause severe damage.

The last major earthquake to hit the region was in neighbouring Algeria last May. It measured 6.8 on the Richter scale and killed 2,300 people near the capital Algiers. Morocco's worst recorded quake was in 1960. It destroyed the southern Atlantic city of Agadir, killing 12,000 people.