Traumatised Marrakech residents sleep in the open

At a McDonald's in the uptown neighbourhood of Gueliz in Marrakech, verses from the Quran have replaced the Moroccan pop that is usually played.

Twenty-four hours after the violent earthquake that shook the province of Al Haouz, 400km southwest of the capital Rabat, Marrakech is a city without a soul.

On Saturday night, the tourist city, some 70km away from the epicentre, was in mourning.

Many locals chose to spend a second night in a row under the stars, for fear of aftershocks or simply because they have nowhere to go. On several major roads and green spaces of the city, dozens of people lay on the grass, some alone and others with their families.

In the southeast of the city, in the Sidi Youssef Ben Ali neighbourhood, Bilal still does not dare to return home.

"I'm still traumatised by what I experienced yesterday. I'd rather stay here with my wife and six-year-old son than risk death because of a collapsing roof," he told Middle East Eye before recounting what he lived the night before.

"It lasted more than 20 or 25 seconds. The dishes in the kitchen woke us up. At first, I heard the glasses break as they fell. But very quickly, I felt the whole house moving in all directions."

Read more: ‘I’m still traumatised’: Moroccans sleep in the open as officials accused of slow response