Panic and disorientation: Portugal’s response to the Moroccan earthquake

The earthquake occurred at 23:11 this Friday at a depth of 10 kilometers. The epicenter was located approximately 65 km southwest of Marrakesh. Given the scale, the shock was felt across Portugal, particularly in the Lisbon and Algarve regions, leaving many people wondering what was happening.

Portuguese in Morocco

“I’m in Morocco. It was terrible. There was a deafening noise and a huge earthquake, many people were panicking. The earthquake was very strong. The damage was also great,” writes the reader. CM.

A Portuguese man who was at a hotel in Marrakesh said CMTV that both he and his wife began to fear the worst. “My wife shook for ten minutes,” he says, referring to the anxiety he experienced during the earthquake.

The mayor of Albufeira is on holiday in Morocco and reports that at the hotel where he is staying, “people are in a panic”.

Monica Cintra admits she’s ‘very scared’

Singer Monica Sintra is on holiday in Morocco and was surprised by an earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale, the epicenter of which was about 65 kilometers southwest of Marrakech on Friday evening.

This Sunday in an interview with the publication CMTVthe artist admitted that she felt “a lot of fear” from shock because she “didn’t know what it was.” “Is there a response coming with the same intensity?” – he thought.

“Duarte [filho da cantora] I was sleeping soundly and, fortunately, I didn’t feel it,” said Monica Sintra. “When the second answer came, Duarte had already noticed it. We were in the square,” he said.

After the earthquake, “some people slept near the pool and others in the lobby” of the hotel where the artist was staying. “We stayed in the lobby,” he explained.

According to Monica Sintra, who will return to Portugal on Monday on the same flight she had already booked before the earthquake, the hotel is “short” and suffered no structural damage, only “cracked walls.” “Other than that, everything remains completely safe,” he said.

The singer also believes that “there is little point” in saying that what happened affected her holiday in Morocco, “given what was happening outside the hotel.”

People report feeling an earthquake

There are messages on social networks from people who felt the shock in the capital. “Tell me that you also recently felt the earthquake in Lisbon,” wrote a user on the social network X/Twitter. “Did I really feel the earthquake here in Lisbon?” – asked another user.

They arrived at CM reports of people feeling shock in different parts of the country: “The water in the pool formed whirlpools,” he says CM witness on holiday in Lagos.

“I was calm and sitting cross-legged in a chair when my legs began to shake, the flowers shook, the front door keys jingled, and then I realized there was going to be an earthquake,” the reader says.

“In Portimao I felt two earthquakes. The latter was more powerful and lasted several seconds. I was sleeping and woke up to the bed shaking violently. Big fear,” says another reader. CM.