The Arab region is considered one of the “medium” regions in terms of seismic activity, but the necessary measures must be taken to repel the threats that these earthquakes create there, according to the statements of an expert who spoke to Al-Hurra website.
Dr. Salah Mahmoud, former president of the Egyptian National Institute for Astronomical and Geophysical Research, explained the seismic belts that affect the region, including the region that was exposed to Friday’s earthquake in Morocco, which prompted residents to take to the streets.
Morocco earthquake site
The strength of the latest earthquake reached 6.8 on the Richter scale, and its epicenter was southwest of the tourist city of Marrakesh, 320 km south of the capital, Rabat, according to the American Geological Institute.
Mahmoud explains that the most seismically active areas, and the most powerful, are the areas surrounding the “Ring of Fire,” which includes the western Americas, Japan, the Philippines, and Indonesia, where devastating earthquakes occur, such as the Indonesia earthquake in 2004, whose magnitude was 9 degrees on the Richter scale, and led to the deaths of about 200 thousand.
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The former president of the Egyptian National Institute for Astronomical and Geophysical Research points out in his statements that for the Arab region, there is the Red Sea belt and the Gulf of Aqaba, which heads north to Jordan, the Palestinian territories, and Syria, and meets eastern Anatolia, which is what caused the earthquake last February in Turkey, which resulted in losses. It was large in the area because it was a populated area.
There is the Mediterranean belt, which begins east from southwest Turkey and Cyprus and extends west until it reaches Morocco. They passed through Egypt, Libya, and Algeria. Earthquakes occur in the region as a result of the convergence of the movement of the African continent with the movement of the European continent at a rate of about 1 cm annually, and cause earthquakes in all areas overlooking the belt, which are very deep in countries such as Cyprus, southwestern Turkey, Greece, Italy and Algeria.
Earthquakes have historically caused widespread damage in central and southern Greece, Cyprus, Sicily, Crete, the Nile Delta, northern Libya, and the Atlas Mountains in North Africa, according to the US Geological Survey.
Although earthquake rates are relatively low along the northern edge of the African continent, large destructive earthquakes have been recorded from Morocco in the western Mediterranean, to the Dead Sea in the eastern Mediterranean, according to the authority. The earthquake that struck the city of Chlef, northern Algeria, in October 1980, was among one of the largest and most destructive earthquakes in Africa during the twentieth century, according to the authority.
The Egyptian expert points out a belt located in western Morocco with the Atlantic Ocean and affecting Morocco, Mauritania, Senegal and other regions. It resulted in the Agadir earthquake in February 1960, with a magnitude of 5.7 on the Richter scale, leaving 15,000 dead (more than a third of the population at that time). ), displacing 35,000 people, in addition to material losses estimated at $290 million at the time.
The expert points out that the Agadir earthquake was less powerful than the last earthquake, but because its epicenter was inhabited Agadir, it led to the death of a large number of people.
The most violent in Agadir…the most prominent earthquakes that struck Morocco
Throughout its history, Morocco has witnessed many earthquakes, perhaps the most notable of which was the one that struck the city of Agadir, in the south of the country, in the year 1960. At that time, it claimed the lives of about a third of that city’s population, in addition to displacing tens of thousands and causing huge material losses.
He explains that the last earthquake occurred in a fault that begins in Agadir and heads north-east, passing through the Algerian-Moroccan border and ending in Tunisia on the Mediterranean Sea. It is an active fault in the Atlas Mountains and causes movement, pressure, and energy accumulation, and causes earthquakes from time to time.
He explains that the recent earthquake in the Atlas Mountains region in Morocco is a “major event” because “since 1960 there have been no earthquakes, which led to the accumulation of energy and this large earthquake occurred. If there had been small earthquakes at repeated intervals, the energy would have been exhausted and an earthquake of this strength would not have occurred.”
The US Geological Survey said that the earthquake on Friday was “unusually strong” for this Moroccan region. “Earthquakes of this size in the region are uncommon, but not unexpected.”
She added: “Since 1900, there have been no earthquakes with a magnitude of 6 on the Richter scale and larger within 500 kilometers of this earthquake. Also, only 9 earthquakes with a magnitude of 5 and larger occurred” during the same period.
The Moroccan earthquake was centered in Marrakesh
Jad Al-Qadi, the current head of the National Institute for Astronomical Research, confirmed in television statements that the seismic activity witnessed in Morocco was expected and that the area where the earthquake occurred is a seismically active area.
Salah Mahmoud said, in previous statements to Al-Hurra website, that all areas overlooking the Mediterranean Sea are vulnerable to earthquakes, but he explained that compared to the famous earthquake areas in the world, activity in the region is considered average.
The necessity of coexistence
Mahmoud says: “The region must live with the phenomenon by adopting engineering building rules that are compatible with earthquakes, in order to reduce the dangers that may result from them.”
The US Geological Survey said that the residents of the area are “at risk due to the quality of the buildings prevailing there.”
Although there are some buildings that are resistant to tremors, many of them are vulnerable, especially since they are built of unreinforced mud bricks, according to the authority.
“Unprotected”… What are the reasons for Morocco being affected by earthquakes?
Before the September 9, 2023 disaster that struck the country, Morocco had not witnessed many devastating earthquakes over the past decades, although part of it occurred on a seismic line in the Mediterranean region.
The judge explained, in Statements The houses in the area that was exposed to the earthquake mainly consist of two or three floors at most and were built mainly of mud brick, which means that the number of victims may rise, noting that the positive side is that most of the area is mountainous areas and the population is small.
And in Previous statements Following the recent Turkish earthquake, Masdouk Al-Taj, professor of structural geology and seismology at the Hashemite University, spoke about indications of a devastating earthquake with a magnitude exceeding 6 degrees in the area surrounding Jordan, which indicates that about every 100 years the region is exposed to an earthquake that causes great damage and that the last earthquake struck a plate. The Jordan Valley was in 1927
And he points out World Bank report Regarding natural disasters in the Arab region, he pointed out that earthquakes are among the disasters that are on the rise. He said that earthquakes come in second place among the most widespread disasters in the region, but they are on par with torrents and floods in the extent of the damage they cause.
While the number of natural disasters around the world has nearly doubled since 1980, it has nearly tripled in the Arab region, according to the report.
He stated that the rapid urbanization, water scarcity and climate change have exacerbated the effects of natural disasters and created new challenges to development in the region.
He said: “Disasters leave strong impacts on cities, especially in informal settlements, which are often the most vulnerable to danger. 62 percent of the region’s total population lives in cities, and this number is expected to double by 2040. Informal settlements will increase and grow side by side.” With cities, which will leave more and more people vulnerable to the effects of devastating natural disasters.”
In light of the Moroccan tragedy… learn about the worst earthquakes that struck the Arab region
Residents of the Moroccan cities of Marrakesh, Casablanca, Agadir and Essaouira felt a strong earthquake last night, resulting in the deaths of more than 800 people in a temporary toll, in one of the most violent earthquakes to hit the Arab region.
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2023-09-10 19:41:34
