Around 11pm local time on September 8, a 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck the High Atlas mountain range, 72 km southwest of Marrakech, Morocco, a city home to 840,000 people. The quake was followed by a 4.9 magnitude aftershock. This has been the biggest earthquake felt in the region. Extensive damage has been reported with buildings collapsed and critical infrastructure severely damaged. GlobalMedic's Rapid Response Team is on the ground providing support to those affected by the quake.
Approximately 300,000 people have been affected by the earthquake. A majority of the damage occurred in rural areas surrounding Marrakech, including al-Haouz, Ouarzazate, Azilal, Chichaoua, and Taroudant provinces. Many of these areas are remote and roads leading to them need to be cleared to enable rescue and relief teams to reach those in need. The exact number of damaged and destroyed buildings is unknown but it is estimated to be in the hundreds. People are in need of humanitarian assistance
GlobalMedic has deployed our Rapid Response Team (RRT) with 4 AquaResponse3 Water Purification Systems to Morocco. The AR3s are point-of-source water filtration devices that can provide clean drinking water to support over 2,000 people every day. These units will be installed at central locations like feeding centres to ensure that the water being consumed at these sites is safe to drink. We have also taken over a local cafe and are producing meals daily to provide to people affected.
This project will help families through the emergency and early recovery phases of this disaster. Food support will allow families to allocate resources to other areas of re-building, increasing the timeframe to stabilize their situation. All the AR3 units that are installed will remain with our local partners after this project ends. This will give them the tools to respond to future crises, increasing local capacity for disaster relief.
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