‘Left alone with nothing’: Moroccan woman loses whole family in earthquake

RABAT, Morocco (AA) - A Moroccan woman has become the only survivor in her family after losing her husband and four children in the earthquake that hit Morocco on Friday.

“My husband and four children died in the devastating earthquake,” the grieving mother told the Moroccan Channel 1.

“I was left alone with nothing,” she said.

The Moroccan survivor is a resident of a village in the Chichaoua province, near Marrakesh.

At least 1,037 people were killed and 721 others injured when a magnitude 7.0 earthquake jolted Morocco late Friday, according to the country’s Interior Ministry.

According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), the epicenter of the earthquake, which hit just after 11 p.m. local time (22:00 GMT), was 75 kilometers (46.6 miles) southeast of Marrakech, at a depth of 18.5 km.

The earthquake was the strongest tremor to hit Morocco in the last century, the country’s National Geophysical Institute said.

Tremors were also felt in neighboring Algeria and Mauritania.

In 2004, more than 600 people were killed and many others injured when a magnitude 6.3 quake hit northeastern Morocco.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi