(Geneva) Morocco should request help from the UN “today or tomorrow” to assist survivors of the powerful earthquake that hit the country last week, the head of UN emergency operations said on Friday, Martin Griffiths.
“We expect and hope – based on our discussions with the Moroccan authorities – that the request for assistance will be sent today or tomorrow, I mean […] very soon,” declared the UN coordinator for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths, during a press briefing in Geneva.
He explained that once the green light has been obtained from Morocco, the United Nations will be able to participate in the assistance phase for survivors.
After such an earthquake, the first phase “focuses on searching for survivors and those who did not survive”, while “the next phase involves providing survivors with aid, shelter, food, medical supplies,” he said.
“In Morocco, I hope we are moving from one phase to another,” he added.
The earthquake reached magnitude 7, according to the Moroccan Center for Scientific and Technical Research (6.8 according to the American Institute of Geophysics, USGS). It is the most powerful to have ever been measured in Morocco.
It occurred on the night of September 8 to 9 in the province of Al-Haouz south of Marrakech, leaving 2,946 dead and 5,674 injured, according to the latest official report published Wednesday evening.
“I am sure that this is an underestimation, but it was carefully carried out by the authorities,” noted Mr. Griffiths.
On Sunday evening, Morocco announced that it had accepted offers from four countries to send search and rescue teams: Spain, the United Kingdom, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.
Storms, rain, and cold
Mr. Griffiths did not criticize the fact that Morocco did not immediately appeal to the UN, and stressed that the “first days of a sudden disaster are always marked by relative confusion”.
“I therefore have no critical remarks to make. We are ready to work and provide coordination support,” said the senior UN official.
“It is only recently that in Morocco we have moved from finding survivors to helping survivors. And this is when aid is of the utmost importance,” he insisted.
The devastated village of Tafeghaghte
The earthquake devastated many homes in villages located in mountainous areas, sometimes very difficult to access.
“It will take weeks, months, years to be able to rebuild because we are not talking about repairs. We are talking about rebuilding several of these villages,” declared Benoît Carpentier, a spokesperson for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, from Marrakech during the press briefing.
The IFRC has launched a fundraising appeal for around 100 million euros to help support operations in Morocco.
The survivors need shelter, mattresses, blankets, and warm clothes, explained Mr. Carpentier.
“Next Tuesday they are expecting storms and rain, and people are still sleeping outside. In the coming weeks in the mountains, it will be between zero and minus 10 degrees. We have to make sure that all these people have something, a roof, some kind of roof over their heads,” he insisted.
