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Morocco earthquake impacted 2.8M people, minister says

Click to play video: 'Responding to disaster in Morocco & Libya'
Responding to disaster in Morocco & Libya
WATCH - Responding to disaster in Morocco & Libya – Sep 18, 2023

Morocco’s earthquake damaged 2,930 villages in the High Atlas mountains with a total population of 2.8 million people, the minister in charge of the budget said on Friday.

The 6.8 magnitude earthquake that struck on Sept. 8 killed more than 2,900 people, most of them in hard-to-reach mountainous areas.

At least 59,674 houses were damaged, of which 32 per cent have totally collapsed, the minister, Faouzi Lekjaa, said in a presentation at parliament.

Click to play video: 'Red Cross offers help to North African region devastated by earthquake, floods'
Red Cross offers help to North African region devastated by earthquake, floods

The government would offer 2,500 dirhams ($244) monthly over a year in aid to quake-stricken households, in addition to 140,000 dirhams compensation paid for totally destroyed homes and 80,000 for partially damaged ones, he said.

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Reconstruction should respect the original architectural character of the High Atlas mountains, Lekjaa said.

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The earthquake, Morocco’s deadliest since 1960, destroyed many hamlets with traditional mud brick, stone and rough wood houses, specific to the Amazigh-speaking Atlas mountains.

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Montrealers support Morocco relief efforts

Overall, Morocco plans to spend 120 billion dirhams on a post-earthquake reconstruction plan that includes the upgrade of infrastructure over the next five years, the Royal Palace said on Wednesday.

The quake-stricken regions are among Morocco’s poorest, with many remote villages lacking proper roads and public services.

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