Morocco : A Year After the Earthquake, Government Response Remains Lacking Amid worsening Conditions

Al Haouz, located in central Morocco’s High Atlas region, was severely hit by a powerful earthquake a year ago. Despite the passage of time, the government’s response to the ongoing plight of those affected remains inadequate. The situation has worsened further due to recent heavy rains and cold weather, exacerbating the already dire conditions in the region.

A year after a devastating earthquake claimed nearly 3,000 lives and shook Morocco’s High Atlas region, villages like Imi N’tala still resemble scenes of devastation. The quake, which caused a mountainside to collapse and flatten most buildings, left behind a landscape of broken bricks, bent rebar, and remnants of kitchen floors. While these debris have been organized into neater piles alongside plastic tents where displaced residents now live, the recovery process remains slow. Some residents are waiting for funds to rebuild their homes, others are pending approval of their reconstruction blueprints, and a few have started makeshift rebuilding efforts on their own.

In towns such as Amizmiz and Moulay Brahim, streets have been cleared, but the visible damage of cracked buildings and piles of rubble remains much as it was immediately after the earthquake. Many displaced individuals continue to live in plastic tents, exposed to the extremes of summer heat and winter cold.

The Moroccan Prime Minister’s Office stated that specific solutions are being implemented for the more challenging cases, but on the ground, there are complaints about the uneven disbursement of aid. Residents in affected areas, such as Amizmiz and Talat N’Yaqoub, have expressed growing frustration with local authorities. They have staged protests, voicing their dissatisfaction with the slow pace of reconstruction and the lack of investment in social services and infrastructure, which has been neglected compared to Morocco’s urban centers and coastline.

As anger mounts, the gap between government promises and actual progress highlights the ongoing struggle for those affected by the disaster. The slow and uneven response to the reconstruction and aid distribution continues to fuel discontent among the survivors, who are eager for more effective and timely support to rebuild their lives and communities.