The 2004 Al Hoceima earthquake occurred on 24 February at 02:27:47 local time near the coast of northern

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

. The

strike-slip In geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock-mass movements. Large faults within Earth's crust result from the action of plate tectonic ...

earthquake measured 6.3 on the

moment magnitude scale The moment magnitude scale (MMS; denoted explicitly with or Mw, and generally implied with use of a single M for magnitude) is a measure of an earthquake's magnitude ("size" or strength) based on its seismic moment. It was defined in a 1979 pape ...

and had a maximum perceived intensity of IX (''Violent'') on the

Mercalli intensity scale The Modified Mercalli intensity scale (MM, MMI, or MCS), developed from Giuseppe Mercalli's Mercalli intensity scale of 1902, is a seismic intensity scale used for measuring the intensity of shaking produced by an earthquake. It measures the eff ...

. Between 628 and 631 people were killed, 926 were injured, and up to 15,000 people were made homeless in the

Al Hoceima Al Hoceima ( ber, translit=Lḥusima, label= Riffian-Berber, ⵍⵃⵓⵙⵉⵎⴰ; ar, الحسيمة; '' es, Alhucemas'') is a Riffian city in the north of Morocco, on the northern edge of the Rif Mountains and on the Mediterranean coast. It i ...

- Imzourene- Beni Abdallah area.

Earthquake

The

moment tensor The focal mechanism of an earthquake describes the deformation in the source region that generates the seismic waves. In the case of a fault-related event it refers to the orientation of the fault plane that slipped and the slip vector and is ...

and pattern of surface cracks indicate left-lateral strike-slip faulting on a buried NE-SW trending fault. This earthquake occurred near the epicenter of the magnitude 6.0 Al Hoceima earthquake of May 26, 1994, that injured one person and caused significant damage to adobe buildings.

Damage

Ground cracks and

landslide Landslides, also known as landslips, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, deep-seated grade (slope), slope failures, mudflows, and debris flows. Landslides occur in a variety of ...

s were observed between Ajdir and Beni Abdallah and maximum

peak ground acceleration Peak ground acceleration (PGA) is equal to the maximum ground acceleration that occurred during earthquake shaking at a location. PGA is equal to the amplitude of the largest absolute acceleration recorded on an wikt:accelerogram, accelerogram at a ...

of 0.24g was recorded near Imzourene.

Aftershocks

Several aftershocks killed at least three people and destroyed previously weakened buildings. This earthquake occurred near the eastern end of the Rif mountain belt, which is part of the diffuse boundary between the African and Eurasian plates.

References

External links

* tp://hazards.cr.usgs.gov/maps/sigeqs/20040224/20040224.pdf M6.4 Al Hoceima, Morocco Earthquake of 24 February 2004–

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, a ...

Buried Strike Slip Faults: The 1994 and 2004 Al Hoceima, Morocco Earthquakes

Moroccan Seismic Network: Overview
–

IRIS Consortium IRIS (Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology) is a university research consortium dedicated to exploring the Earth's interior through the collection and distribution of seismographic data. IRIS programs contribute to scholarly research, ...

The seismic design code for buildings: A priority for seismic risk reduction in Morocco

Preliminary Observations on the Al Hoceima, Morocco, Earthquake of February 24, 2004
–

EERI The Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) is a leading technical society in dissemination of earthquake risk and earthquake engineering research both in the U.S. and globally. EERI members include researchers, geologists, geotechnical e ...

Al-Hoceima earthquake 24 02 2004
– Patrick Murphy Corella
Earthquake Mw 6.5 in Morocco, February 24th, 2004
– EMSC * * {{Earthquakes in Africa 2004 disasters in Morocco

Earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...

Earthquakes in Morocco February 2004 events in Africa Al Hoceïma Province Taounate Province Taza Province

Earthquake

Damage

Aftershocks

See also

References

Further reading

External links