Casablanca (Morocco) (AFP) - A powerful earthquake shook Morocco on Friday and killed nearly 300 people, according to a preliminary government count, with terrified residents fleeing their homes in the middle of the night.

The 6.8-magnitude quake struck 72 kilometres (around 45 miles) southwest of tourist hotspot Marrakesh at 11:11 pm (2211 GMT), the US Geological Survey reported.

Strong tremors were also felt in the coastal cities of Rabat, Casablanca and Essaouira.

“We felt a very violent tremor, and I realised it was an earthquake,” Abdelhak El Amrani, a 33-year-old in Marrakesh, told AFP by telephone.

“I could see buildings moving. We don’t necessarily have the reflexes for this type of situation. Then I went outside and there were a lot of people there. People were all in shock and panic. The children were crying and the parents were distraught.”

“The power went out for 10 minutes, and so did the (telephone) network, but then it came back on,” he added. “Everyone decided to stay outside.”

The quake “killed 296 people in the provinces and municipalities of Al-Haouz, Marrakesh, Ouarzazate, Azilal, Chichaoua and Taroudant”, Morocco’s interior ministry said in a statement, citing a provisional report.

Another 153 people were injured, it added.

- ‘Unbearable’ screams -

Faisal Baddour, an engineer, said he felt the earthquake three times in his building.

“People went out into the street just after this total panic, and there are families who are still sleeping outside because we were so scared of the force of this earthquake,” he said. “It was as if a train was passing close to our houses.”

Frenchman Michael Bizet, 43, who owns three traditional riad houses in Marrakesh’s old town, told AFP that he had been in bed at the time of the quake.

“I thought my bed was going to fly away. I went out into the street half-naked and immediately went to see my riads. It was total chaos, a real catastrophe, madness,” he said.

The 43-year-old shared video of piles of rubble from collapsed walls in the streets.

Footage on social media also showed part of a minaret collapsed on the famous Jemaa el-Fna square in the historic city.

Fayssal Badour, another Marrakesh resident, told AFP he was driving when the earthquake hit.

“I stopped and realised what a disaster it was… The screaming and crying was unbearable,” he said.

The interior ministry said authorities have “mobilised all the necessary resources to intervene and help the affected areas”.

Hospitals in Marrakesh reportedly saw a “massive influx” of injured people.

The regional blood transfusion centre in Marrakesh has called on residents to donate blood for those injured.

In the town of Al-Haouz, near the epicentre of the quake, a family was trapped in the rubble after their house collapsed, local media reported.

- Significant damage likely -

“We heard screams at the time of the tremor,” a resident of Essaouira, 200 kilometres west of Marrakesh, told AFP.

“People are in the squares, in the cafes, preferring to sleep outside. Pieces of facades have fallen.”

The USGS PAGER system, which provides preliminary assessments on the impact of earthquakes, issued a red alert for economic losses, saying extensive damage is probable and the disaster is likely widespread.

Past events with this alert level have required a national or international level response, according to the US government agency.

Internet connectivity was disrupted in Marrakesh due to power cuts, according to global internet monitor NetBlocks.

Moroccan media reported it was the most powerful earthquake to hit the country to date.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz offered condolences, while Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was “pained” by news of the quake.

The earthquake was also felt in neighbouring Algeria, where the Algerian Civil Defence said it had not caused any damage or casualties.

In 2004, at least 628 people were killed and 926 injured when a quake hit Al Hoceima in northeastern Morocco.

The 7.3-magnitude El Asnam earthquake in neighbouring Algeria in 1980 was one of the largest and most destructive earthquakes in recent history.

It killed 2,500 people and left at least 300,000 homeless.