M 6.8 - 54 km WSW of Oukaïmedene, Morocco

  • Report

Name

M 6.8 - 54 km WSW of Oukaïmedene, Morocco

Description

Tectonic summary by USGS Earthquake.

Types

Report

Claims from

The September 8, 2023, M 6.8 earthquake near Oukaïmedene, Morocco, occurred within the Africa Plate, approximately 550 km south of the plate boundary between the Africa and Eurasia plates.
The High Atlas Mountains contain a variety of mapped strike-slip and thrust faults, trending to the east-west and northeast-southwest.
Large aftershocks could cause additional damage, especially in weakened or more poorly constructed structures. The largest aftershock so far has been a magnitude 4.9, but magnitude 5 and larger aftershocks are also possible over the next week, month, and beyond.
There are likely to be dozens of aftershocks that may be felt in the area over the first weeks and months. While future aftershocks are most likely to be felt near where the previous aftershocks occurred, they may also be felt further away.
More earthquakes than usual will continue to occur in the region surrounding Oukaïmedene southwest of Marrakech, Morocco. These aftershocks will decrease in frequency in the days, weeks, and months, after the magnitude 6.8 main seismic event.
Earthquakes of this size in the region are uncommon but not unexpected. Since 1900 there have been 9 M5 and larger earthquakes within 500 km of this event, none of which are over M6.
At the location of this earthquake, the African plate moves approximately 3.6 mm/year WSW relative to the Eurasia plate.  
Focal mechanism solutions for the event indicate rupture occurred on a steeply dipping oblique-reverse fault striking to the northwest or a shallow dipping oblique-reverse fault striking to the east.
The September 8, 2023, M 6.8 earthquake near Oukaïmedene, Morocco, occurred due to oblique-reverse faulting at shallow depth within the Moroccan High Atlas Mountain range, roughly 75 km southeast of Marrakech.

Publish date

09

Month
/

08

Day
/

2023

Year

12

:

00

am

Publisher

USGS

Topics

Natural disasters
Earthquake in Morocco

Web URL

https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us7000kufc/executive

Referenced by

Earthquake in Morocco

News

Topic
News story

At the location of this earthquake, the African plate moves approximately 3.6 mm/year WSW relative to the Eurasia plate.  

News

Claim

The High Atlas Mountains contain a variety of mapped strike-slip and thrust faults, trending to the east-west and northeast-southwest.

News

Claim