REPORTAGE. “We will be at peace when everyone has their own house”: one year after the earthquake in Morocco, reconstruction is still underway

On September 8, 2023, central Morocco was hit by a powerful earthquake that killed nearly 3,000 people. A year later, the scars of the disaster are still very much present, and new houses are slow to emerge from the ground.

A sad anniversary in Morocco. A year ago, on September 8, 2023, the Cherifian kingdom was hit by a terrible earthquake. The deadliest the country has experienced in 60 years. In the center of the country, in the High Atlas region, where the epicenter is located, nearly 3,000 people were killed, more than 5,600 injured, villages were almost completely wiped off the map and 60,000 homes were damaged or destroyed. The task is immense for the authorities who have set up an ambitious reconstruction program. Affected families receive either 80,000 or 140,000 dirhams to renovate or rebuild their homes, or a little over 7,000 and 13,000 euros respectively.

In the village of Amesguen, perched at an altitude of 1,000 metres, the sound of the shovel digging into the fresh concrete has something reassuring about it. “Here, the foundations are finished. In a short while, we will build the brick structure and it will continue like this little by little, until the end of the work.”explains Abderrahim, looking at his young village. The new houses are slowly emerging from the ground, the earthquake has caused considerable damage. “There were two dead, an old lady and a child of 5 or 6 years old.”

Forced to leave their village, the survivors settled a little further away. For six months, they have been living on the side of the road, in prefabricated buildings. “We were in the tents there. Life in the tent is difficult. The water comes in, we manage as best we can,” says Abderrahim.

“Even if we put plastic, the water would eventually seep in.”

Abderrahim, resident of a village in the High Atlas in Morocco

“This is the house”, Aicha opens the doors of her temporary home, “This is the bedroom and the kitchen. There is a toilet here, that’s all. Even if it’s small, it’s good,” says Aïcha, who lives alone in these nine square meters, where this summer it was stiflingly hot. She is very proud to show the plans of her future house that she is having built thanks to financial aid from the State. “They laid the foundations. There are people who are not at that stage yet. We will be at peace when everyone has their house.”

But it may take time. In this village, about ten families have not been compensated. Some point the finger at the weight of bureaucracy. There are profiles that do not fit into the administrative boxes, “My documents proving my identity remained in the rubble of my house. It was my son who registered. He lives in Marrakech. As a result, they refused to grant us aid“, regrets Yamina.

According to the Moroccan government, about 50,000 homes are under construction or rehabilitation. Nearly 1,000 families have completed their work.