Morocco’s deadliest earthquake in decades has killed more than 2,000 people, authorities said Saturday, as troops and emergency services scrambled to reach remote mountain villages where victims are still feared trapped.

Authorities declared three days of national mourning, but the Red Cross warned that it could take years to repair the damage.

The 6.8-magnitude quake struck late Friday in a mountainous area 72 kilometres (45 miles) southwest of the tourist city of Marrakesh, the US Geological Survey reported.

With strong tremors also felt in the coastal cities of Rabat, Casablanca and Essaouira, the quake caused widespread damage and sent terrified residents and tourists scrambling to safety in the middle of the night.

“I was nearly asleep when I heard the doors and the shutters banging,” said Ghannou Najem, a Casablanca resident in her 80s who was visiting Marrakesh when the quake hit.

“I went outside in a panic. I thought I was going to die alone.”

In the mountain village of Tafeghaghte near the quake’s epicentre, virtually no buildings were left standing. The traditional clay bricks used by the region’s Berber inhabitants proved no match for the rare quake.বিস্তারিত