Many
more were feared dead as rescue workers scrambled to reach some of the
more inaccessible villages in the region.
The
tremor, which hit the northeastern port of Al Hoceima on the
Mediterranean coast at 2:27 a.m. (02: 27 GMT), measured 6.3 points on
the open-ended Richter scale.
The
National Geographical Institute in Spain said the epicenter was 15
kilometers southeast of Al Hoceima, some 50 kilometers west of the
north African enclave of Melilla on the Mediterranean coast.
It
said the quake was felt in several parts of Morocco, including the
regions of Fez and Taza further to the south as well as Melilla and
the southern Spanish regions of Andalusia and Murcia.
Local
officials said hundreds of injured were flooding into the port of Al
Hoceima, which seemed to have escaped damage from the quake felt as
far away as parts of southern Spain.
The
Mohammed V Hospital in Al Hoceima was overflowing and the injured were
being evacuated to a local army barracks and to a charity home.
In
Imzouren, a city of 30,000 people some 10 kilometers south of Al
Hoceima, about 40 small buildings and houses were entirely flattened
by the earthquake.
The
army and the royal gendarmerie, or paramilitary police, joined local
rescue services and teams from the civil protection authority, MAP
said.
Helicopters
have also been flown in to the affected region, with large quantities
of search and rescue equipment, it added.
The
Mohammed V Foundation provided two planes and a medical team as well
as ambulances, medicines and equipment including blankets and 20
tonnes of food, officials said.
International
Aid
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Locals
clearing rubble following the killer quake
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Meanwhile,
several European countries and international relief agencies started
sending aid to the devastated area.
France
sent three civil security experts to assess needs, while a team of 60
rescue workers including doctors, firemen and dog handlers were put on
standby, the French air force said.
From
an airbase at Marignane in southern France, a doctor, a military
officer specialized in salvage work and engineering in disaster zones,
and a military communications specialist flew to Morocco.
A
foreign ministry spokesman, Herve Ladsous, said Paris was prepared to
"provide any aid necessary, particularly in terms of emergency
personnel and according to the needs expressed by the Moroccans".
Ladsous
added that the French embassy in Morocco was trying to establish
whether any French citizens were among the casualties.
Belgian
Foreign Minister Louis Michel sent a letter of condolence to the
Moroccan government after the quake.
"The
minister proposed to send Belgian aid to the area if that is required
by the local authorities, " a foreign ministry statement said.
German
Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer also offered his country’s
heartfelt condolences for the Moroccan people.
"I
would like to wish you and all Moroccans my deepest sympathies,"
Fischer wrote in a telegram to his counterpart Mohamed Benaissa.
"The
federal government is prepared at any time to supply aid and support
to alleviate the suffering. "
Separately,
the German Red Cross said it had provided a mobile clinic and two
water treatment units.
Spanish
Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar also offered to send help in a phone
conversation with Morocco's King Mohammed VI.
The
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies also
released 75,000 Swiss francs (48,000 euros, $60,000) from its disaster
relief emergency fund on learning of the quake during the night, AFP
said quoting a statement released by the federation.
"A
federation field assessment and coordination team is also on standby,
ready to leave today to support the Moroccan Red Crescent relief
operation.
"The
Red Crescent, which is closely coordinating relief efforts with the
authorities, has dispatched 1,500 blankets, 100 tents, 150 mattresses,
200 jerry cans and tarpaulins to the area," the federation
statement said.
The
last powerful tremor hit the area measured 6.0 and struck in 1994.
Morocco's
worst earthquake in modern times occurred in February 1960. At least
12,000 people were killed when an earthquake measuring 6.7 percent on
the Richter scale wrecked the port city of Agadir on the Atlantic
coast.
