meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Post Reports

Waiting for aid in Morocco

Post Reports

The Washington Post

Daily News, Politics, News

4.45.1K Ratings

🗓️ 12 September 2023

⏱️ 19 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Today on “Post Reports,” why an earthquake in Morocco was so deadly, the anger over the government response, and what survivors say they need now. 


Read more:


The massive earthquake in central Morocco that killed at least 2,900 people was unusual for that part of the country — and that’s part of what made it so deadly


Claire Parker has been on the ground reporting from the remote villages that were hit the hardest. 


“It's quite different from, for example, the earthquake in Syria and Turkey earlier this year when people were still pulling out survivors days later, I think partly because of just how poorly constructed these buildings are,” Parker said.


Days later, many survivors are still waiting for basic necessities, and feeling abandoned. Morocco has also been reluctant to accept outside aid, baffling foreign governments. In the absence of government aid, ordinary Moroccans are trying to fill in the gaps.


“The solidarity shown by ordinary Moroccans has been astounding,” Parker said. “We've seen again and again on these really twisty, turny, narrow mountain roads that are very difficult to navigate, hundreds of small cars packed full of blankets and milk and water and diapers, all of these supplies making their way to these remote villages just out of a sense of an obligation to help.” 


The country declared three days of mourning nationwide as rescuers and recovery teams mobilize. Some residents described using their bare hands to pull loved ones from the rubble.


Here’s how and where you can make a donation to help earthquake survivors in Morocco.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

I'm so sorry about the chaos today.

0:05.5

So I'm trying to find a kind of quietish place to be one thing.

0:09.2

Should you guys get me okay?

0:11.0

Claire Parker is the Cairo Bureau Chief for the Washington Post.

0:13.8

And she was speaking to me from a rest stop, about 25 miles outside of Marra Cash.

0:19.2

And we just got back here after a long day of driving up through the mountains, where

0:25.5

we saw some of the some of the worst destruction that we've seen since we arrived early

0:30.2

yesterday morning.

0:34.1

Last Friday, an earthquake hit Marrako that leveled whole communities and left at least

0:39.2

2,900 people dead.

0:41.6

This is the worst earthquake Marrako has seen in more than a century.

0:45.6

The death toll is only rising.

0:48.4

And the full scale of the devastation is just starting to come into view.

0:53.2

Claire and her colleagues spent Monday talking to people in some of the hardest hit villages

0:58.2

in the high Atlas mountains.

1:02.5

We're just seeing houses completely flattened buildings where, you know, there's just

1:09.1

the front of the building and all of the back of it has fallen off the cliff.

1:13.2

We've seen destroyed schools, destroyed mosques.

1:17.0

Basically, decimated cities where the survivors are camped not in proper tents, but just

1:24.0

in makeshift tents that they've kind of rigged up with blankets, with tarps and string

1:30.5

or sticks.

1:31.9

It's really hot during the day here.

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Washington Post, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Washington Post and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.