More than 2,100 killed by earthquake near Marrakech, Morocco

Rescue efforts to help those caught near the epicenter of Friday's powerful earthquake were ongoing Sunday, with members of the army, police and civil defense arriving overnight.

Many of the villages in the foothills of the Atlas Mountains close to the epicenter of the quake are isolated and difficult to access, hampering operations. 

The scale of the quake's impact is still becoming clear, but eyewitnesses CNN spoke to on Saturday gave a sense of the destruction.

Fatima, 50, told CNN her house in the town of Asni in the foothills of the High Atlas mountain range was destroyed in the earthquake. 

Mustapha Louaanabi, who also lives in the foothills of the Atlas Mountains, described the moment the earthquake struck, saying there were “loud, deafening noises” and it felt as if “a train was passing right in the middle of the living room”.  

His family fled outside, where they stayed for the rest of the night as aftershocks continued until 8 a.m. local time (3 a.m. ET). “Nobody slept all night because of the aftershocks and the noise of these shocks created panic,” he said. 

Louaanabi’s house survived the quake, but a town nearby has been razed to the ground and locals are unable to retrieve bodies from under the rubble, he said.

Mohamed, from Asni village in Alhouz, at the foothills of Morocco’s High Atlas mountains, told CNN that almost all of the houses in his area had been damaged by the earthquake. 

While he and his family managed to get out during the night, others were not so lucky. Mohamed told CNN his neighbor “lost” his two children — a boy and a girl.   

Rescue efforts have been redirected to other nearby areas where the damage is much worse than his village, he added.

Morocco's devastating 6.8-magnitude earthquake that struck the country late on Friday night has claimed over 2,000 lives — making it the deadliest the country has seen in decades.

Another 2,000 people were hurt, including about 1,404 who remain in critical condition, according to Morocco's state TV Al Aoula.

The earthquake struck around 11:11 p.m. local time (6:11 p.m. ET). The epicenter was in the High Atlas mountains, about 72 kilometers (45 miles) southwest of Marrakech, a popular tourist city of about 840,000 people.

Not since 2004 has the country seen a comparable disaster, when a 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck the port city of Al Hoceima.

That earthquake left around 630 people dead and caused widespread damage.

Morocco's worst earthquake of modern times was in 1960 near the western city of Agadir. That disaster killed at least 12,000 people.

Morocco’s King Mohamed VI has ordered mosques nationwide to hold funeral prayers, known as "Janazah" prayers, at noon local time (7 a.m. ET) on Sunday for those killed in the earthquake.

Flags were flown at half-mast across the country, the state news agency said. 

On Saturday, Moroccans flocked to hospitals and centers to donate blood as part of a nationwide call to help those injured in the deadly earthquake. State and local media showed videos of people donating blood across the country.

As the sun came up in Marrakech on Sunday, the true scale of people’s fear became clear. Many were waking up in the city’s parks, squares and large parking lots.

They were too afraid to go inside, fearing another earthquake could cause the already damaged buildings to collapse. 

Moustapha Shweirgi slept on the floor next to his market stall at Jemaa el-Fna, Marrakech’s main square. He was napping in a chair on Sunday morning after spending the night lying on a thin blanket next to his friend and fellow market trader.

When the earthquake hit late Friday, he felt like someone was trying to knock him over. 

People around him were screaming, panicking. The famous Jemaa el-Fna square is at the heart of the medina, Marrakech’s historical quarter, and gets very busy at night. There are dozens of food stalls and musicians competing for the attention of the many tourists who flock to the place in the evenings. 

When the quake hit on Friday night, people were still out and about. Shweirgi said he saw people trying to hang on to the railings and tables on the first floor terrace of a cafe just in front on him. 

He said he managed to stay on his feet, but only just. “And then the mosque started to fall down,” he said, pointing to the religious center in the corner of the square. 

Outside a damaged mosque, Zined Hatimi recalled the terror of Friday night. 

Hatimi, 53, slept in a central Marrakech park with her entire family, including little children. She said it got cold at night, so they stayed together. 

“Everybody was outside. All of the neighbors, everyone. We don’t want to go inside, everyone is scared, the shaking was so strong,” she said. 

The US has made clear to the Moroccan government it is prepared to provide "significant assistance" following the devastating earthquake near Marrakech.

It comes after a statement on Saturday from US President Joe Biden, who said that his administration was in contact with officials in Morocco.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed "deep sadness at the loss of life and destruction" and "heartfelt condolences" to those affected. He echoed Biden's promise of assistance.

The powerful 6.8-magnitude quake that struck Morocco late on Friday was the deadliest to hit the country in decades.

The death toll has surpassed 2,000, according to figures released by the interior ministry, which also reported at least 1,404 people in critical condition.

Here is a breakdown of the death toll so far:

The Moroccan government is deploying its own response to the earthquake and the UN remains on standby to assist, the UN coordinator in Morocco said in an interview published on Friday.

“The government is deploying its own answer to the earthquake. For now, we are on standby, ready to assist according to the modality the [Moroccan] government would like to choose,” Fustier said.

The UN can help with the search efforts and also humanitarian or rebuilding needs, according to Fustier.

More first hand accounts are emerging as search and rescue teams on the ground in Morocco race against time to locate survivors.

Carmen Merino, a humanitarian worker, was vacationing in Morocco when the earthquake hit. She told CNN's Jim Acosta that she was caught off guard by the earthquake's impact and magnitude.

The 6.8-magnitute quake, which struck late Friday, is Morocco’s deadliest in years. Not since 2004 has the country seen a comparable disaster, when a 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck the port city of Al Hoceima, claiming around 630 lives.

It was also the strongest to hit the region around the ancient city of Marrakech in a century, according to the US Geological Survey.

Recovery and relief efforts following the powerful earthquake in Morocco have entered a "challenging" period but there is still hope of finding survivors, a spokesperson for UN’s Children Fund UNICEF told CNN.

English said many families who had fled their homes with "just the clothes on their back" had spent a second night out in the streets of Marrakech, the largest city near the epicenter of Friday's quake.

"We will be here all the way through and will support children and their families after but we can't do it without public support and donations – all of this is actually critical... in terms of getting (survivors) safe drinking water, shelter and food in the longer term."