When the earth shakes
Sixty-six years of earthquakes, and three nights
Morocco sits on the seam between Africa and Europe. This story replays 1,564 earthquakes from the USGS catalogue since 1960, then stops on Agadir 1960, Al Hoceima 2004 and Al Haouz 2023: intensity draped over the relief, exposed population, and what magnitude does not tell.
Loading the map…
1 / 10
GeoInsights
When the earth shakes
Morocco sits on a seam: where Africa pushes against Europe, a few millimetres a year. The push cannot be felt — until the day it gives. This story replays sixty-six years of earthquakes from the USGS catalogue, and stops on three nights: Agadir, Al Hoceima, Al Haouz.
2 / 10
Where the earth folds
Each hexagon counts the earthquakes of magnitude 3.5 and above recorded since 1960; its height, their number. They do not line up on the plate boundary: they spread from the Gulf of Cadiz to the Rif and the Alboran Sea, and run down into the Atlas. Here the boundary is a wide zone.
0
earthquakes of magnitude 3.5 and above recorded in the region since 1960
Source : USGS, ANSS Comprehensive Catalog (ComCat) — séismes de magnitude 3,5 et plus, 20°–37° N, 18° O–0°, 1960–2026
3 / 10
Sixty-six years in forty seconds
Each earthquake lights up on its date and fades over the following year. Size gives magnitude; colour, depth — yellow near the surface, red deep down. Two swarms stand out: Al Hoceima in 1994 and again in 2004. On this night background, city lights recall where people live.
Source : USGS, ANSS Comprehensive Catalog (ComCat) (1960–2026)
▸ See the data
| 1960 | 1 |
|---|---|
| 1961 | 0 |
| 1962 | 0 |
| 1963 | 0 |
| 1964 | 2 |
| 1965 | 0 |
| 1966 | 0 |
| 1967 | 3 |
| 1968 | 1 |
| 1969 | 4 |
| 1970 | 1 |
| 1971 | 1 |
| 1972 | 1 |
| 1973 | 5 |
| 1974 | 4 |
| 1975 | 23 |
| 1976 | 0 |
| 1977 | 2 |
| 1978 | 4 |
| 1979 | 4 |
| 1980 | 3 |
| 1981 | 2 |
| 1982 | 0 |
| 1983 | 5 |
| 1984 | 0 |
| 1985 | 2 |
| 1986 | 15 |
| 1987 | 16 |
| 1988 | 19 |
| 1989 | 20 |
| 1990 | 25 |
| 1991 | 14 |
| 1992 | 33 |
| 1993 | 28 |
| 1994 | 89 |
| 1995 | 36 |
| 1996 | 20 |
| 1997 | 19 |
| 1998 | 22 |
| 1999 | 10 |
| 2000 | 13 |
| 2001 | 6 |
| 2002 | 9 |
| 2003 | 12 |
| 2004 | 447 |
| 2005 | 146 |
| 2006 | 81 |
| 2007 | 76 |
| 2008 | 71 |
| 2009 | 9 |
| 2010 | 16 |
| 2011 | 4 |
| 2012 | 6 |
| 2013 | 15 |
| 2014 | 28 |
| 2015 | 6 |
| 2016 | 58 |
| 2017 | 6 |
| 2018 | 4 |
| 2019 | 7 |
| 2020 | 9 |
| 2021 | 30 |
| 2022 | 33 |
| 2023 | 14 |
| 2024 | 7 |
| 2025 | 10 |
| 2026 | 7 |
4 / 10
Agadir, 29 February 1960, 11:40 pm
A moderate magnitude — 5.8 to 5.9 depending on the catalogue — but a shallow focus, a few kilometres beneath the city, and houses not built for it. The old town and the kasbah collapse. Between 12,000 and 15,000 dead, a third of the inhabitants. Agadir was rebuilt further south, under the country's first seismic building code.
0
deaths at least — between 12,000 and 15,000, a third of the city
Source : Wikipédia, « 1960 Agadir earthquake » — 29 février 1960, 23 h 40, Mw 5,8, 15 km de profondeur, 12 000 à 15 000 morts
5 / 10
Al Hoceima, the 2004 swarm
On 24 February 2004 at 2:27 am, a magnitude 6.3–6.4 earthquake struck the Rif villages around Al Hoceima: at least 631 dead, 15,230 displaced. Then the ground kept going: USGS records 337 shocks of magnitude 3.5 and above within 75 km of the epicentre before the year was out. The swarm replays here month after month, over the Rif's relief.
0
deaths at least; 926 injured and 15,230 displaced
Source : Wikipédia, « 2004 Al Hoceima earthquake » — 24 février 2004, Mw 6,3, au moins 631 morts, 926 blessés, 15 230 déplacés
0
shocks of magnitude 3.5 and above within 75 km, 24 February to 31 December 2004
Source : USGS, ANSS Comprehensive Catalog (ComCat) — séismes de magnitude 3,5 et plus, 20°–37° N, 18° O–0°, 1960–2026
6 / 10
Al Haouz, 8 September 2023, 11:11 pm
Beneath the High Atlas, 19 km deep, 73 km south-west of Marrakesh: magnitude 6.8, the strongest earthquake ever recorded by a seismograph with an epicentre in Morocco. The colours draped over the relief are USGS's estimated shaking intensity — up to degree VIII, 'severe', around the epicentre. In the valleys, rammed-earth and stone houses did not hold.
0
deaths at least, 5,674 injured
Source : Wikipédia, « 2023 Marrakesh–Safi earthquake » — 8 septembre 2023, 23 h 11, Mw 6,8 (USGS), au moins 2 960 morts, 5 674 blessés, 19 095 maisons effondrées
0
houses collapsed, and 40,759 damaged
Source : Wikipédia, « 2023 Marrakesh–Safi earthquake » — 8 septembre 2023, 23 h 11, Mw 6,8 (USGS), au moins 2 960 morts, 5 674 blessés, 19 095 maisons effondrées
7 / 10
Who lived there
Population estimated by WorldPop for 2023, cell of a hundred metres by cell. Marrakesh to the north, and in the mountains a string of villages along the Atlas valleys — right where shaking was strongest. More than 2.8 million people were affected.
0.0million
people affected, from Marrakesh to the Atlas valleys
Source : Wikipédia, « 2023 Marrakesh–Safi earthquake » — 8 septembre 2023, 23 h 11, Mw 6,8 (USGS), au moins 2 960 morts, 5 674 blessés, 19 095 maisons effondrées
8 / 10
What magnitude does not tell
The weakest of the three earthquakes killed the most. Agadir 1960, 5.8–5.9: at least 12,000 dead; Al Haouz 2023, 6.8: nearly 3,000; Al Hoceima 2004, 6.3–6.4: 631. Between the energy released and the toll lie depth, distance to towns, and above all the way people build.
Source : Wikipédia — pages des séismes d'Agadir (1960), d'Al Hoceima (2004) et d'Al Haouz (2023) (1960–2023)
▸ See the data
| Agadir 1960 · M5.8–5.9 | 12 000 |
|---|---|
| Al Haouz 2023 · M6.8 | 2 960 |
| Al Hoceima 2004 · M6.3–6.4 | 631 |
9 / 10
The map is yours
Earthquakes, hexagons and plate boundaries are here. Pick a year in the time bar, or replay.
10 / 10
Sources and method
Everything this story states comes from here: the data tables, the references cited and the catalogue datasets, with their licence and date.
Data
Period : 1960–2023Licence : CC BY-SA 4.0
Wikipédia — pages des séismes d'Agadir (1960), d'Al Hoceima (2004) et d'Al Haouz (2023)
Period : 1960–2023Licence : CC BY-SA 4.0
Low ends of published ranges: Agadir, between 12,000 and 15,000 deaths; Al Hoceima, at least 631; Al Haouz, at least 2,960.
Bird (2003), PB2002 — limites de plaques (Afrique, Eurasie, Amérique du Nord)
Period : 2003Licence : ODC-BY 1.0
A line for a boundary that, between the Gulf of Cadiz and Algeria, is a zone several hundred kilometres wide: earthquakes do not line up on the stroke.
USGS, ANSS Comprehensive Catalog (ComCat)
Period : 1960–2026Licence : Domaine public (USGS)Updated : 2026-10-07
Earthquakes of magnitude 3.5 and above between 20° and 37° N and between 18° W and 0°, as listed in the USGS global catalogue. The catalogue is more complete today than in 1960: the apparent rise in small earthquakes also reflects monitoring networks. Morocco's CNRST keeps a finer national catalogue, not used here.
USGS, ANSS ComCat — épicentres
Period : 1960–2023Licence : Domaine public (USGS)
References
- USGS, ANSS Comprehensive Catalog (ComCat) — séismes de magnitude 3,5 et plus, 20°–37° N, 18° O–0°, 1960–2026 · 2026-10-07 · Domaine public (USGS)
- Bird (2003), « An updated digital model of plate boundaries », PB2002 ; conversion Ahlenius / Nordpil · 2014-06 · ODC-BY 1.0
- Kharita — Intensité des secousses sismiques au Maroc, USGS ShakeMap (MMI) · 2026-08-14 · Domaine public (USGS)
- Kharita — Population du Maroc 2015–2030, WorldPop Global2 R2025A, 100 m · 2026-10-07 · CC BY 4.0
- Wikipédia, « 1960 Agadir earthquake » — 29 février 1960, 23 h 40, Mw 5,8, 15 km de profondeur, 12 000 à 15 000 morts · 2026-10-07 · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Wikipédia, « 2004 Al Hoceima earthquake » — 24 février 2004, Mw 6,3, au moins 631 morts, 926 blessés, 15 230 déplacés · 2026-10-07 · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Wikipédia, « 2023 Marrakesh–Safi earthquake » — 8 septembre 2023, 23 h 11, Mw 6,8 (USGS), au moins 2 960 morts, 5 674 blessés, 19 095 maisons effondrées · 2026-10-07 · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Natural Earth 1:50m — Admin 0 Countries (le Maroc d'un seul tenant) · 2026-10-05 · Domaine public
Catalogue datasets
Morocco Population 2015–2030 — WorldPop Global2 R2025A, 100 m
WorldPop, University of Southampton — Global2 R2025A v1 · Licence : CC BY 4.0; obligations ODbL possibles pour les composants dérivés d’OpenStreetMap · Updated : October 6, 2026
Seismic Shake Intensity in Morocco — USGS ShakeMap
USGS ShakeMap / ANSS ComCat · Licence : USGS-authored data are generally public domain; attribution is recommended. · Updated : September 22, 2026
Methodology
Earthquakes are those of the USGS global catalogue (ComCat), magnitude 3.5 and above, between 20° and 37° N and between 18° W and 0°, from 1960 to October 2026; magnitude is the catalogue's, whatever its type, and may differ by a tenth from values cited elsewhere, hence the ranges in the text. The catalogue grows more complete over the decades: the rise in small earthquakes also reflects detection. Plate boundaries are Peter Bird's PB2002 model (2003). Shaking intensity is the USGS ShakeMap published on Kharita; population, WorldPop 2023 at 100 m. Death tolls come from the cited Wikipedia pages, at the low end of published ranges. Relief is exaggerated to be readable.
Boundaries: Natural Earth 1:50m (public domain), Morocco as a single polygon. Satellite basemap: Esri World Imagery.