It felt like there were dragons under the floor.

That91裸聊视频檚 how Nelson resident Fiona Richards describes the Sept. 8 earthquake in Morocco.

91裸聊视频淭hey were just lifting the tiles and moving it around and the walls were shaking,91裸聊视频� she said. 91裸聊视频淚t felt like the floor was moving under our feet. It was terrifying.91裸聊视频�

As of Tuesday morning more than 2,900 people were killed in by the 6.8-scale earthquake and 5,500 injured, mostly in the Atlas Mountains about 70 kilometres south of the city of Marrakesh.

Richards, her husband and two friends had just arrived in Marrakesh and checked into a guest house in the Medina, the oldest part of the ancient city.

91裸聊视频淲e were having a drink and having a laugh. We hadn91裸聊视频檛 seen our friends in a long time. It was so nice, it was hot. And we could hear the call to prayer. It was just so exciting.91裸聊视频�

Then the rumbling started.

They huddled under a stone arch doorway in the kitchen, covering their heads with their arms.

91裸聊视频淵ou could hear the buildings creaking and stretching 91裸聊视频� it was more of a feeling than the sound to be honest. But you could hear the screaming of the people because everything is so close together here. The streets are barely eight feet wide, if that.91裸聊视频�

Richards guesses the shaking lasted 30 seconds.

The arch held and their building remained largely intact, but with large cracks in the walls. They were surprised to come out uninjured.

Their Moroccan neighbours all ran out into the street, she said, because they know their buildings will collapse during an earthquake, and many of them did. The Canadian advice to stand under a doorway in an earthquake is unheard of in Morocco.

They decided to stay in their courtyard, which is open to the sky, then later went to bed. Their Moroccan neighbours all slept in the streets, parks and squares, in fear of further shaking.

The next morning she saw a lot of structural damage and few people with injuries.

91裸聊视频淪ome of them had bandages, but you know, they were walking around, they were going to work.91裸聊视频�

Richards said it was impossible to know what was happening beyond her immediate block because of the very narrow streets in the Medina. But there was no search and rescue, no stretchers and ambulances.

The next day they walked further afield and saw many people with wheelbarrows, shovels, donkeys and carts, moving the rubble from buildings that had uneven damage 91裸聊视频� some buildings destroyed, others intact, and 91裸聊视频渟ome of them hanging by a thread.91裸聊视频�

Should we leave?

They wondered if they should leave the country.

Richards asked a Moroccan couple who acted as guides for residents of their guest house. French is spoken by most Moroccans, and Richards and her husband and friends speak French, so they were able to have detailed conversations.

91裸聊视频淲e said, 91裸聊视频楽hould we leave? Is it disrespectful if we stay?91裸聊视频� And they said, 91裸聊视频楴o, don91裸聊视频檛 go, the people need you here.91裸聊视频�91裸聊视频�

They needed them to stay and be tourists. That91裸聊视频檚 how most of the people in the Medina survive.

Richards tweeted about the earthquake and was immediately contacted by various Canadian media sources. Her message to the world was, 91裸聊视频淚f you were planning to come to Morocco, these people need you.91裸聊视频�

Most of the damage and fatalities are in the villages near the epicentre in the Atlas Mountains, she said. In Marrakesh, there is damage and people are scared, but mostly they are trying to get on with their lives and businesses.

But the tourists have disappeared. In their guest house, the next three booked tourists had cancelled, so the owner has no income for the near future, and it is the same throughout the Medina.

Richards says she91裸聊视频檚 buying from stores and market stalls and not haggling, and is met with nothing but appreciation: 91裸聊视频淭hank you for being here. We really need you.91裸聊视频�

She is critical of the international media for scaring people away from all of Morocco rather than one rural part of it.

91裸聊视频淚f they actually came here and spoke to the people in Marrakesh, they would see that the people are back at it, they91裸聊视频檙e making their orange juice or making their coffees, they91裸聊视频檝e got all their stuff out. And people are shopping and they91裸聊视频檙e praying when the call to prayer comes on.91裸聊视频�

Richards and her husband and friends are leaving for Spain on Sept. 13. They would like to stay longer, she said, but flights are hard to get because schedules are disrupted.

READ MORE

91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频�

bill.metcalfe@nelsonstar.com
Sign up for the Nelson Star91裸聊视频檚 newsletter to have local stories delivered straight to your inbox every morning.