![]() ![]() ![]() "The damage is much more significant than we expected," he said. Just hours after the quake struck, Falt led a UNESCO team into the medina on a visit to inspect the damage. The vast Jemaa el-Fna square is just one: the huge open area on the edge of the medina is known for its snake charmers and henna hawkers among other attractions. Marrakesh is full of such places that have been on the UN cultural agency's World Heritage list since 1985. ![]() "But we also have to plan immediately for the second phase, which includes rebuilding schools and cultural property affected by the earthquake." "After a disaster like this, the most important thing is to preserve human life," said Eric Falt, UNESCO's regional director for the Maghreb. It is around 70 kilometres (45 miles) southwest of Marrakesh, Morocco's main tourist attraction.īy Sunday, the death toll has reached more than 2,100. The 12th-century walls that surround the millennium-old city, founded by the Almoravid dynasty, have also been partly disfigured by the tremor.Īl-Haouz province, site of the quake's epicentre, suffered the most. Some parts of the 700-hectare (1,730-acre) medina and its network of alleyways saw significant damage, with mounds of rubble and crumpled buildings. Marrakesh has a rich architectural heritage, and much of it suffered damage in Friday's quake, the strongest ever to hit the North African country. "Now that's what I call solid," said the 68-year-old in a yellow jellaba and black kerchief on her head, before sweeping away dust and stones from the arch leading to her modest home. Her house was able to withstand the 6.8-magnitude earthquake that rocked Morocco, but many others did not. Fatima Sanoussi's wrinkled hand tapped the wall in Marrakesh's historic medina on Sunday. ![]()
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