French President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday he was ready to send help for the earthquake in Morocco as the death toll continues to rise, with at least 2,122 dead and 2,421 injured. Read our live blog to see how all the day's events unfolded. All times are Paris time
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11:30pm: Moroccans affected by earthquake spend third night sleeping outdoors
Many people were spending a third night in the open after the 6.8 magnitude quake hit late on Friday. Relief workers face the challenge of reaching the worst-affected villages in the High Atlas, a rugged mountain range where settlements are often remote and where many houses crumbled.
The death toll climbed to 2,122 with 2,421 people injured, state TV reported. Morocco said it may accept relief offers from other countries and will work to coordinate them if needed, according to state TV.
10:48pm: Morocco thanks Spain, Qatar, UK, UAE for sending aid
King Mohammed VI of Morocco has thanked Spain, Qatar, the UK and the UAE for sending aid in the wake of the devastating earthquake that hit the country on Friday, state TV said in a post on social media site X late on Sunday.
Morocco assessed aid needs and considered the importance of coordinating relief effort before accepting help from the four countries, it added.
9:58pm: Amid aftershocks and uncertainty, volunteers join disaster relief efforts
FRANCE 24 journalist Luke Shrago reported on the aftershocks Marrakesh experienced on Sunday and the solidarity he witnessed among citizens.
"Morocco has this huge tradition of warmly welcoming people, and that has shown, particularly in how people are volunteering to help out," he said.
A blood drive outside the city centre usually gets about 140 people a day volunteering to donate blood. This Sunday, they had 5- 6 thousand people showing up, with "queues right down the road [and] massive crowds of people", said Shrago.
9:38pm: Morocco says accepting quake aid from four countries
Morocco said Sunday it was accepting offers of aid from just four countries after the strongest-ever earthquake to hit the North African country killed more than 2,100 people.
The interior ministry said Rabat had responded favourably "at this stage" to offers from Spain, Britain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates "to send search and rescue teams". Other states including France have also offered help.
8:30pm: UK to send search & rescue teams to Morocco after earthquake
Britain said on Sunday that it was deploying search and rescue teams to Morocco following the 6.8 magnitude earthquake that hit the north African nation on Friday.
"Sixty UK search and rescue specialists, four search dogs and rescue equipment deployed to Morocco," Britain's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said in a statement, adding that it was deploying the rescue team on Sunday via two Royal air Force A400M aircraft.
"Foreign Secretary has spoken to Foreign Minister (Nasser) Bourita and UK remains in close contact with the Moroccan authorities," the FCDO added.
6:20pm: FRANCE 24's special edition provides further coverage of the earthquake in Morocco
Please click below to view FRANCE 24's special edition on the aftermath of the massive powerful earthquake that rocked Morocco on Friday night. Traumatized locals suffered a magnitude 3.9 aftershock this Sunday as the country marks its first of three days of mourning.
6:20pm: Morocco quake death toll rises to 2,122, says ministry
The earthquake that hit Morocco over the weekend has killed at least 2,122 people, according to the latest figures issued Sunday by the interior ministry.
It also reported 2,421 injured, many of them in critical condition.
At Marrakech's University Hospital Mohammed VI, scores of people volunteered to donate blood this Sunday.
4:43pm: Morocco rescuers scour rubble for survivors after quake kills 2,000
Using heavy equipment and even their bare hands, rescuers in Morocco on Sunday stepped up efforts to find survivors of a devastating earthquake that killed more than 2,000 people and flattened villages.
The first foreign rescuers flew in to help after the North African country's strongest-ever quake killed at least 2,012 people and injured more than 2,000, many seriously, according to the official figures.
Friday's 6.8-magnitude quake struck 72 kilometres (45 miles) southwest of the tourist hub of Marrakesh, wiping out entire villages in the hills of the Atlas mountains.
3:59pm: Aftershock rattles Morocco as rescuers seek survivors from the earthquake that killed over 2,000
An aftershock rattled Moroccans on Sunday as they prayed for victims of the nation’s strongest earthquake in more than a century and toiled to rescue survivors while soldiers and workers brought water and supplies to desperate mountain villages in ruins. The disaster killed more than 2,000 people — a number that is expected to rise.
The United Nations estimated that 300,000 people were affected by Friday night's magnitude 6.8 quake and some Moroccans complained on social networks that the government wasn’t allowing more help from outside. International aid crews were prepared to deploy, but waited for the Morocco government to request their assistance.
3:36pm: Morrocans line up in their hundreds to donate blood to earthquake victims
People are doing what they can to help earthquake victims. "They have come down in their hundreds" to donate blood, says FRANCE 24's Luke Shrago reporting outside a hospital in Marrakech.
"Some people have been here since 8 o'clock in the morning ... last night there were so many that hundreds were turned away."
1:44pm: Spain sends 56 rescuers to quake-hit Morocco
Spain on Sunday sent a plane with 56 rescuers and four search dogs to quake-hit Morocco after it received a formal request for help from Rabat, the defence ministry said.
An A400 military plane took off from a base in the northeastern city of Zaragoza with the team bound for Marrakesh to "help in the search and rescue of survivors of the devastating earthquake suffered in our neighbouring country," the ministry said in a post on X, formerly called Twitter.
1:43pm: France says it can help Morocco after quake, awaiting Rabat's request
France said on Sunday it is ready to help Morocco after a powerful earthquake killed over 2,000 people, and is awaiting a formal request for assistance.
"France is ready to offer its aid to Morocco if Morocco decides it is useful," President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday during a news conference at the G20 Summit in New Delhi.
"Moroccan authorities know exactly what can be delivered, the nature (of what can be delivered) and the timing...We are at their disposal. We did everything we could do.... The second they request this aid, it will be deployed," he added.
1:01pm: Pope offers prayers for Morocco quake victims
Pope Francis offered prayers and solidarity on Sunday for the victims of Morocco’s deadliest earthquake in more than six decades.
“I pray for the injured, for those who have lost their lives, so many of them, and for their relatives,” he said, speaking to crowds in St Peter’s Square after delivering his Angelus message.
He also thanked rescue workers for their efforts to help the victims of a quake that has killed more than 2,000 people.
“We stand with the people of Morocco,” he added.
11:32am: Football star urges Moroccans to donate blood
Football star Achraf Hakimi has posted a picture of himself donating blood to help injured earthquake survivors, and is urging fellow Moroccans to do the same.
“At this moment, the priority is to give blood to those who are in critical condition. Donating blood is everyone’s responsibility in order to save as many lives as possible. Your help is indispensable,” he wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
11:20am: France says it is awaiting Morocco’s request for aid after quake
France stands ready to help Morocco after the earthquake and is awaiting a formal request for help, a foreign ministry spokesperson said on Sunday.
“Our embassy in Morocco is fully mobilised...today Moroccan authorities are in charge... An assessment (of the situation) is under way... At this stage Morocco has not asked for help,” Anne-Claire Legendre told BFM television.
French President Emmanuel Macron is among world leaders who offered help on Saturday to Morocco, saying France stood ready to help rescue efforts.
One French citizen died and eight were injured in the earthquake.
11:02am: Spain to send rescuers, aid to Morocco
Spain will send search and rescue teams and other aid to quake-hit Morocco after it received a formal request for help from Rabat, Spanish foreign minister Jose Manuel Albares said Sunday.
“It is a sign of Spanish solidarity and of the sense of friendship which unites the people of Spain with the people of Morocco,” he said during an interview with Catalunya Radio, adding he received a call from his Moroccan counterpart requesting the aid in the early hours of Sunday.
“It will be as much aid as Morocco needs, at first what we are setting in motion are search and rescue teams because it is urgent to try to find the greatest number of people alive to save them. When it is time for reconstruction, Spanish aid will also be present.”
Albares did not provide further details but an interior ministry spokesman said the government was preparing to “immediately” send 65 members of Spain’s Military Emergencies Unit (UME) to Morocco to help in the search and rescue operation.
9:54: 'Next 24 to 48 hours critical' in finding survivors
The World Health Organization has estimated that more than 300,000 people have been affected by the disaster, and rescue teams are working around the clock to find survivors who may have been trapped under the rubble.
“The next 24 to 48 hours will be critical in terms of saving lives,” Caroline Holt, global director of operations for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said in a statement.
8:52am: Piles of rubble, tourists desperate to leave and locals sleeping it rough
Piles of rubble can be seen in Marrakesh’s old medina after Friday’s massive earthquake caused walls of some of the city's historic buildings to crack, and in some cases cave in, FRANCE 24’s Luke Shrago reports, but noted it is not a city in ruins. He added that most tourists have cut their holidays short and are flocking to the airport to leave Morocco as soon as possible.
“There are dozens and dozens and dozens of tourists who are camped out (at the airport). They’re trying to get out. Very few are willing to stay,” he said.
He also said Marrakesh’s main square, the Jeema el-Fnaa, is filled with hundreds of locals sleeping it rough for fear of returning to their homes.
“There’s a great sense of fear in terms of aftershocks,” he said.
Watch his full report in the video below:
6:45am: Many families spend second night outdoors for fear of aftershock
Many families huddled into the early hours of Sunday, spending a second night on the streets as Morocco’s deadliest earthquake in more than half a century left many fearing their homes were no longer safe to return to.
Uncertainty gripped many in Marrakech, some 70 kilometres northeast of the epicentre, as they worried the quake may have damaged their homes or that an aftershock could destroy them in the coming hours or days.
00:05am: quake death toll rises to 2,012 and 2,059 injured - state TV
The death toll from the Moroccan earthquake rose to 2,012 people, Moroccan state TV said early on Sunday, citing a statement from the interior ministry.
The number of injured rose to 2,059, including 1,404 people who are in a critical condition, it added.
(FRANCE 24 with AP, AFP, Reuters)
