A rare, powerful earthquake struck Morocco late Friday night, killing more than 1,000 people and damaging buildings from villages in the Atlas Mountains to the historic city of Marrakech.
The full toll was not known as rescuers struggled to get through boulder-strewn roads to the remote mountain villages hit hardest.
People woken by the magnitude-6.8 quake ran into the streets in terror and disbelief.
A man visiting a nearby apartment said dishes and wall hangings began raining down, and people were knocked off their feet and chairs.
A woman described fleeing her house after an “intense vibration.’’
A man holding a child said he was jarred awake in bed by the shaking. The quake was the biggest to hit Morocco in 120 years, and it toppled buildings and walls in ancient cities made from stone and masonry not designed to withstand quakes.
