The ground shook with a force few had ever felt, thundering through remote villages in Morocco at the dark of night.
When the earthquake ended late on Friday, September 8, 2023, villages and towns carved into the Atlas Mountains lay devastated, with hundreds dead, countless homes ruined beyond repair.
A village of fewer than 3,000 people, Moulay Brahim attracted tourists and outdoor enthusiasts with its stunning vistas and proximity to Marrakech. Streets brimmed with small hotels and cafes overlooking gorges and green valleys.
But after the 6.8 magnitude earthquake that killed more than 2,000 across Morocco, the scene in the village is bleak.
People in the poor rural community about 45 kilometres (28 miles) northeast of the quake epicentre live in homes made of clay brick and cinder block, many of which are no longer standing or safe to inhabit.
CAUTION! UPSETTING IMAGES AHEAD. VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED.
IMAGE: Emergency workers search for life in the rubble in Amizmiz nearly 48 hours after the deadly earthquake in Morocco. Photograph: Nacho Doce/Reuters
IMAGE: A damaged hotel in Moulay Brahim. Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters
IMAGE: Hussein Adnaie carries belongings out of his damaged house in Moulay Brahim. Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters
IMAGE: Humanity survives the catastrophe in Amizmiz. Photograph: Nacho Doce/Reuters
IMAGE: Emergency crews inspect a damaged building in Ouirgane. Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters
IMAGE: Rescue workers attend to a survivor of the earthquake in Amizmiz. Photograph: Nacho Doce/Reuters
IMAGE: Survivors in an ambulance in Amizmiz. Photograph: Nacho Doce/Reuters
IMAGE: Survivors camp by the roadside in Imgdal. Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters
IMAGE: A man walks on the rubble left by the earthquake in Amizmiz. Photograph: Nacho Doce/Reuters
IMAGE: Mohamed Sebbagh, 66, stands in front of his destroyed house in Amizmiz. Photograph: Nacho Doce/Reuters
IMAGE: Rescue workers recover a body from the rubble in Ouirgane. Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters
IMAGE: Emergency workers place a body in a vehicle in Amizmiz. Photograph: Nacho Doce/Reuters
IMAGE: A relative faints as rescue workers recover a body from the rubble in Ouirgane. Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters
IMAGE: A search and rescue operation in Ouirgane. Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters
IMAGE: Emergency crews cover a body in Amizmiz. Photograph: Nacho Doce/Reuters
IMAGE: Emergency workers carry a victim of the deadly earthquake in Amizmiz. Photograph: Nacho Doce/Reuters
IMAGE: Emergency workers carry an earthquake victim's body in Amizmiz. Photograph: Nacho Doce/Reuters
IMAGE: Fatima Boujdig, an earthquake survivor, with her husband and a neighbour sit next to their truck in Tafeghaghte, a remote village in the High Atlas mountains, in this still image taken from a video. Photograph: Reuters TV/via Reuters
IMAGE: Neighbours take pictures of emergency workers carrying a dead body in Amizmiz. Photograph: Nacho Doce/Reuters
IMAGE: The funeral of two victims of the deadly earthquake in Moulay Brahim. Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters
Photographs curated by Manisha Kotian/Rediff.com
Feature Presentation: Mahipal Soni/Rediff.com
