The earthquake in Morocco

    Morocco is an Arab country located in North Africa,  a country where African, Arab, and European cultures are intertwined. It is a complex country. Many cities in Morocco are rich, like Rabat (the capital of Morocco), but some others aren't as . An example of one such city is Marrakesh.  Marrakesh is known for its beautiful market and hot weather. It is also part of the most famous tourist destinations, for example Rue Bab Doukkala Market. Marrakesh is beautiful, but also very old.  Many buildings in Marrakesh were built centuries ago, and some of them weren't built for bad weather. Many regions in Morocco have been forgotten.  A lot of those regions are closed off from the world so they never get the chance to rebuild their buildings for the new weather, and that can slowly lead to appalling things.

  Since many regions were not properly prepared, when the recent earthquake hit, the earthquake (epicenter?) was located 44 miles southwest of Marrakesh  near the town of Adassil, in the well known Atlas mountains, Al Haouz province. The earthquake hit all of Morocco, but the real damage was in the Atlas mountains. The magnitude of the earthquake was 6.8 and rounded up to 7. The earthquake hit at 11pm local time, which is 6:00 pm EST. This was a shock to the country, because natural disasters aren't very common in Morocco. Over 3,000 lives were lost because of this earthquake, and 5,600 people were injured.

    A heartwarming story, but also heart shattering one is about Abdul Rahim Awid. Awid is 14 years old and was affected by the earthquake. There are so many people who lost family members in the earthquake and Awid is one of those people. When the earthquake hit,  Awid lost his family. His father, mother, two brothers and grandfather all passed away because of the tragic incident. On a Tuesday after the earthquake the young boy was shown on TV interviewed about what happened. He was seen with a real Madrid jersey and his heartwarming story was felt all around the country. His story touched people's hearts and went as far as touching real Madrid's heart. Real Madrid got hold of the story and was touched by what they heard. Real Madrid announced that they were searching for the boy because of the empathy they felt.  A few weeks later it was announced that they found the boy and added him to their academy and he is right now practicing soccer in Real Madrid. Of course this doesn't replace the agony he must feel losing his family , but we are happy to hear somebody wanted to take him home.

            -Penny Appeal USA Inc. 

   Ways to help? If you want to help the thousands of people who were affected by the earthquake you can help by donating to many different websites like

• Charity navigator

• Global giving

• Penny appasluea 

• United Hands Relief

There are also many other things you can do to help people who were affected. Many people who live in Morocco go to the Atlas Mountains and help the people in need. Some others make a fundraiser to help the people. A fundraiser that happened around Boston was located in revere

Morocco had many different people help them through their hardship. The article was made to bring awareness to what people from Morocco had to go through.  They very much appreciate the help of other countries and individuals.

Works Cited

Al Arabiya Network. "alarabiya new." alarabiya news, english.alarabiya, 14 Sept. 2023, english.alarabiya.net/News/north-africa/2023/09/14/Real-Madrid-reaches-out-to-Moroccan-fan-who-lost-family-during-deadly-earthquake. Accessed 21 Nov. 2023.

Center for disaster philantrophy. "2023 morocco earthquake." disaster philanthropy, 25 Oct. 2023, disasterphilanthropy.org/disasters/2023-morocco-earthquake/#:~:text=On%20Sept.%208%2C%20a%20devastating,Atlas%20Mountains%2C%20Al%20Haouz%20province. Accessed 21 Nov. 2023.

Mailonline. "Real Madrid 'invite Morocco earthquake victim to join their academy and continue his education in Spain' - after heartbreaking video of the teenager crying into his Los Blancos shirt after losing his family goes viral." mailonline, 14 Sept. 2023, www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-12520705/Real-Madrid-invite-Morocco-earthquake-victim-join-academy-continue-education-Spain-heartbreaking-video-teenager-crying-Los-Blancos-shirt-losing-family-goes-viral.html. Accessed 21 Sept. 2023.