A clap of thunder breaks the solemn silence inside Fatima’s house. He puts his hands on his head. Click with your tongue. Between the spaces of the roof, covered with tree branches and dry leaves, filter the drops falling from the overcast sky of Tafeghaghte, in the Moroccan High Atlas. It is raining hard. The woman advances inside her cabin and raises her head, surveying each space: above the refrigerators, between the kitchen utensils and under the void that separates the corridor from an improvised room equipped with blankets that simulate a bed. Suddenly, it stops raining: “Alhamdulillah” (“Thank God” in Arabic), he sighs. It smells like rain and the birds are chirping. Silence reigns.
A year ago, Tafeghaghte was shaken by the worst earthquake in recent Moroccan and North African history. Since then, Fátima, who lives in one of the cities with the highest number of deaths in the Al Houz region, has been waiting for the reconstruction of her house, which was completely destroyed by the earthquake. “There are only two people working on the reconstruction. Out of 140 families, two are living in their new homes,” he says. In the dim light of the makeshift shed, the 51-year-old points to two windows on the ground, dismantled and without glass. “They haven’t been able to put them in yet,” he explains. On the door of his future house, which he has not yet been able to buy, he says: “If I have to, I’ll put a rag down. I’m not going to wait any longer. I’m tired.”
The woman, her husband and their 23-year-old daughter are among the families living among the rubble, the buildings to be consolidated and the new constructions in Tafeghaghte. Meanwhile, at the entrance to the town, a sea of plastic tents rises and the old school now serves as shelter from the rain and shade from the heat. “The winter was very cold, but at least we were able to cover ourselves with blankets and coats. The heat was much worse. Unbearable,” says Fátima, pointing to one of the tarpaulins that have covered her house for a year.
On the night of September 8, 2023, the earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale left more than 2,900 dead and about 5,530 injured, according to data from the Moroccan Ministry of Interior. The epicenter of the earthquake was located 75 kilometers southeast of Marrakech and at a depth of 18.5 kilometers.
Like Fátima, several neighbors claim that the process of reconstruction and redistribution is slow and that problems persist in the affected areas. However, according to official data released at the end of the 11th meeting of the Inter-ministerial Commission for the Deployment of the Reconstruction and Urbanization Program for the Areas Affected by the Al Haouz Earthquake, 55,142 reconstruction permits have been granted and a total of 40,632 affected homes have been rehabilitated. According to the same government source, field interventions to clear debris from public buildings and destroyed homes have affected a total of 46,352 buildings, of which the most difficult cases are being corrected with caution.
Insufficient compensation
A few kilometres south, in Amizmiz, the atmosphere is very different. The town is bustling with activity and a dozen cars are crowding the entrance to the local market. Where there used to be mountains of rubble, the alleys along which neighbours and pedestrians make their way are shining again. The landscape has changed colour and, unlike a year ago, hundreds of cement-coloured buildings now stand.
“A large part of the affected families received monetary compensation to rebuild their homes. But it is not enough,” says one of his neighbors who prefers not to reveal his name. In addition, he adds that in the city “it is more difficult to control the distribution of money” and that, unlike in small villages, “there is not as much space for reconstruction.” According to the same official data, 57,805 families, or 97% of the total affected, received compensation of 20,000 Moroccan dirhams (about 2,000 euros) for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of their homes. On the other hand, just over 20,000 families received the second payment, about 8,800 the third and almost 1,000 the fourth and final.
Some say they have not yet received enough compensation to start work on their homes, but prefer to abandon the tents despite the instability of the damaged buildings. “It can be dangerous, but it is better than continuing to live in the camps,” adds the same neighbor from Amizmiz.
In another of the affected towns, Ouirgane, a resident named Abdelkebir explains that rehabilitation plans are more advanced in the affected areas that are on the front line, that is, those that are most accessible and through which pass the main roads that connect Marrakech with different points in the Al Haouz region.
So much so that in the most touristic areas of the region such as Imlil, one of the starting points for hikers climbing the country’s highest peak, Toubkal, life has returned to normal and cracked buildings are being covered with new layers of cement or have been demolished to be raised with stronger and renewed foundations. In the first five months of 2024, Morocco welcomed more than 5.9 million visitors, about 770,000 more than in the same period in 2023, according to data from the Moroccan Ministry of Tourism.
