Dr. Ahmed Mataba, professor of geology, environment and climate change, revealed the reasons for the occurrence of the earthquake in Morocco, pointing out that the earthquake that occurred in the province of Al-Haouz is a tectonic earthquake due to the movement of the African plate against the Eurasian plate.
Image of the effects of the earthquake in Morocco - Source: Sky News
The two plates move against each other in Morocco earthquake
According to Ahmed Malaba’s remarks to Sky News on Saturday, these two plates usually move against each other on the edges of the Mediterranean in the north and south, but the movement was more towards the northwest, and there are faults in the direction of Marrakesh and the province of El Haouz al-Kabir, which has a population of half a million, in Morocco.
مشاهد مؤلمة من #زلزال_المغرب ، اللهم الطف بإخواننا، وارفع عنهم البلاء !! pic.twitter.com/wFZ4aAoLsT
— جهاد حلس، غزة (@Jhkhelles) September 9, 2023
Ahmed Al-Mupeta pointed out that there is a northwestern fault, which is one of the types of reversed faults, and there is another fault in the east, stressing that there was movement on a steep backsloped slope crack and hit the northwest, or a shallow slope backslope slope slope crack hit the east.
The geologist estimated the fault stress zone at 30 km by 20 km, and many slip and thrust faults occur between east and west, northeast and southwest in the High Atlas.
Energy combined in a tectonic zone is not active
Energy combined in this region, a tectonic zone that is not active, but earthquakes were recorded in 1960 and 2004 near it, he said.
عدد ضحايا #زلزال_المغرب في ارتفاع مخيف وما زال هناك عالقون تحت الأنقاض !!
إخوانكم بحاجة لدعائكم فلا تنسوهم، ومن استطاع المساعدة بما هو أكثر من الدعاء فليبادر ولا يتردد !! pic.twitter.com/bQk70CM7PV— جهاد حلس، غزة (@Jhkhelles) September 9, 2023
He pointed out that the place is located between the lower range and the upper range of the Atlas Mountains, which is a flat land, which usually does not expect earthquakes in it, pointing out that the potential energy collected on the surfaces of these large cracks and moved causing this sudden earthquake, stressing that most earthquakes in Morocco are related to movement on the borders of those plates, with the greatest seismic risk in the north of the country near the border.
