Mountain Communities in Morocco are still Recovering a Year After a Devastating Earthquake

Here in Amizmiz, one of the bigger towns in the severely affected Al Haouz area, most of the structures are still in the same state of damage as when the earthquake struck.

On September 8, 2023, a 6.8-magnitude earthquake—the largest to strike the nation of North Africa in 120 years—took nearly 3,000 lives. Numerous structures in towns and villages near Morocco’s High Atlas mountains, such as Amizmiz, were reduced to rubble. Even though the damage is still mostly there, there are rays of hope.

New foundations are being dug and bricks are being laid for some of the rebuilt homes and ongoing construction projects. But the process of getting life back to normal has been a slow one to start.

Residents of the town have had to deal with a complex bureaucracy in order to obtain the money required to rebuild their homes in the year since the earthquake rocked the area.

After authorities evaluated the damage, households were given between 8,000 and 16,000 euros ($8,900 – $17,800) in installments to rebuild their homes. Some people also received financial assistance for urgent needs.