Nearly 500 people were killed and over 2,400 injured when a massive earthquake struck Algiers, the capital of Algeria, and nearby towns on Wednesday.
As rescue workers toiled through the night, scrabbling at mounds of rubble to reach families trapped in ruined homes, the toll rose rapidly in the early hours of Thursday.
“Buildings have collapsed. Entire families are underneath,” Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia said as the state media appealed for medical staff to report for work to cope with mounting casualties.
Measuring 6.7 on the open-ended Richter scale, the quake sent terrified residents running into the streets in Algiers and towns to the east, closer to the epicentre, along the populous Mediterranean coastal strip. It was felt as far away as Spain.
One of the worst affected places was Rouiba, a relatively prosperous city some 30 km from the eastern suburbs of Algiers, where one building after another was reduced to a pile of rubble in a scene of utter devastation.
“I have never seen such a disaster in my life. Everything has collapsed,” said Yazid Khelfaoui, who lost his mother in the disaster. The rubble of his apartment block was all around him.
Algerian state television, which gave the casualty figures, showed dozens of bodies lined up under sheets and blankets, some clearly children. Among the wounded treated in hospital, one was a child, bandaged around the head and with blood on his face.
Also badly hit was the coastal city of Boumerdes — where media reports spoke of people jumping from windows as they tried to save themselves. State television also said a small hospital had collapsed in Boumerdes, but gave few details.
Security Alert
“It’s about saving lives tonight,” Prime Minister Ouyahia told state radio early on Thursday. “It’s a tragic moment… It’s a misfortune that hits the whole of Algeria.”
He said security forces were on alert to stop looting in a country riven by a decade of violence by Islamist rebels. More than 100,000 have died and the economy has suffered despite hefty export earnings from natural gas and oil.
President Abdelaziz Bouteflika oversaw the crisis response.
State media broke into programmes to urge people to go outdoors and stay away from buildings: “Leave your home, turn off the gas and don’t use elevators. Stay calm,” they said.
A Reuters correspondent in Algiers said the tall building where he was shuddered markedly for some seconds in the tremor. Some 200 aftershocks hit northern Algeria in the first two hours and authorities warned many more would follow.
At Algiers’ principal Mustapha hospital families gathered to ask about the fate of loved ones. Police forced back the growing crowd, said a Reuters reporter at the scene.
“I want to see my brother. I want to know if he is dead or still alive. Please let me get inside,” said Ahmed, 40, who had come to Algiers from Rouiba. He wept as he spoke.
The US Geological Survey’s National Earthquake Information Centre said the epicentre was 70 km (45 miles) east of Algiers, and 10 km (six miles) below ground.
Most of Algeria’s 32 million people live in the north, away from the desert. Algiers alone is home to at least 2.6 million.
A spokesman for the US institute said the quake was the biggest to hit the North African country since 1980, when a tremor measuring 7.7 killed at least 4,500 people in the west.
In 1994, about 150,000 were made homeless by an earthquake in northwestern Algeria, with the death toll over 170. An earthquake in 1999 killed 22 people.
By: Arthur - 22nd May 2003 at 20:37
Earthquakes are no fun indeed. Even though i don’t live in a particulairly dangerous area, we do have a quake here every ten years or so. First one was when i was a toddler – can’t remember much of it, except that the sandcastle i was building collapsed on me. Second time was in 1992, which was 5.7 on the Richter scale and which made my bed walk – with me in it, as it was about 3 am. No fun at all, especially since it took some time for me to realise it was an earthquake and before you know it is one it is even scarier.
I now live some 50kms to the south, but the local earthquakes seem to have accompanied me. Last year there was another one, at about 7 in the morning, strength 4something Richter. It was an annoying wakeupcall, but this time i realised what it was which made it less bad. Nevertheless, scary experiences. Even without casualties or massive collapse.
By: keltic - 22nd May 2003 at 20:07
Terrible thing earthquakes, I neve had the “pleasure” of experience one (only at London Geological Museum), a a 3,00 degree at my local town, which wasn´t really nice. It was soft, but seems that a big dragon was advancing under the surface. The main problem is not being to prevent them, and the lack of safety regulations in terms of construction which the Third World countries should follow. At the end, poor societies suffer the most devastating effects. This same earthquake wouldn´t cause anything in Japan or the US. In Spain, as a neighbouring country to Algeria, effects were perceived in Majorca, Ibiza and Menorca due to a small sunami (freak wave) which destroyed many small boats in the harbours.
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May 22, 2003 at 11:16 am