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Powerful 6.8 Magnitude Earthquake Devastated the Nation of Morocco; A Day Of Remembrance And Reflection of 9/11. Aired 4-4:10a ET
Aired September 11, 2023 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
COY WIRE, CNN 10 ANCHOR: Hello, lovely people. I`m Coy, hoping your weekend was wonderful and you`re feeling refreshed and ready to rock this Monday.
We have just 16 Mondays left in 2023, each one offering a new beginning and chance to shine. So let`s make them count. Shall we?
We`re going to start today in the North African nation of Morocco, a 6.8 magnitude, powerful earthquake shook Morocco`s high Atlas mountain range
shortly after 11:00 p.m. Local time on Friday. Rescuers in Morocco are still searching for survivors. Tragically, at the time of this recording,
at least 2,000 people had lost their lives, 1,400 others in critical condition.
The worst damage and destruction has been in isolated mountain areas, which are difficult to access. Residents have described entire villages,
suffering damage with rescuers, unable to reach those in need. Morocco`s worst earthquake of modern times was in 1960 when at least 12,000 people
died. But the scale of this weekend`s quake and the impact is still becoming clear.
More now from meteorologist Allison Chinchar, who has more on the details of the earthquake and its aftershocks.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We know the original quake was a magnitude 6.8 at a depth of about 11 miles for geological standards that is
considered extremely shallow.
Now, after that main quake, just 19 minutes after that, they had their first aftershock, a 4.9 magnitude, and 4.9 may not sound like that much,
but after having the dad, the 6.8, keep in mind, you`re going to have a lot of those buildings. A lot of the homes that are now structurally
compromised. So even something like a 4.9 can cause subsequent damage, that was felt the original quake was felt as far away as neighboring countries
of Algeria and Portugal.
But again, to show you how rare it is for this region to experience such large quakes, just since 1900, there have only been maybe a handful of
quakes at a magnitude 5.0 or higher. So again, it`s very rare in this area.
Now we had the original quake at a 6.8, one since aftershock of 4.9 we really don`t know how long it`s going to be before there could be another,
would there be multiple in a row? Each earthquake is different, but on average, statistically speaking, there could be one an aftershock of at
least a 5.8 and even say a 4.2, a 4.5, even though it`s a much smaller number, it could still cause a tremendous amount of additional damage just
because those buildings, especially the older ones have already been structurally compromised by the initial quake.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIRE: All right, thank you, Allison. And more now on how this tragic earthquake is impacting the people of Morocco. Here`s CNN Senior
International Correspondent, Sam Kiley.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Marocco`s King Mohammed has declared three days of national mourning here in Marrakesh and that is
because his country has been completely devastated by an extraordinary earthquake totally unexpected in cities like this, Marrakesh.
This has been the scene here in the Medina, the most ancient part of this ancient city. Here a building clearly ripped away by this earthquake but
the scenes have been even worse in the interior of the country where one woman who was trapped for some 12 hours was pulled from rubble in a remote
village.
Now there are 13 people dead here in Marrakesh across the country more than 1300 people have died and the authorities here expect those numbers to
climb with some rapidity. Their problem though is getting out into the areas that are worst affected.
The epicenter is about 45 miles south of Marrakesh but the areas that have been really badly devastated according to the local authorities have been
villages in the foothills of the Atlas Mountains.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIRE: The people of Morocco will need assistance in the days, weeks and months to come, organizations are on the ground, responding to the disaster
right now, and CNN`s Impact Your World has ways to support relief efforts. For more information, about ways to help you can visit CNN`s Impact Your
World website.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This just in, you were looking at obviously a very disturbing live shot there. That is the world trade center. And we have
unconfirmed reports this morning that a plane has crashed into one of the towers of the world trade center. CNN Center right now is just beginning to
work on this story. Obviously calling our sources and trying to figure out exactly what happened, but clearly something relatively devastating
happening this morning there on the south end of the island of Manhattan. That is once again a picture of, one of the towers of the World Trade
Center.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WIRE: Today is Monday, September 11th, and it marks the 22nd anniversary of the attacks on American soil. The day caused chaos, terror and death when
the Al-Qaeda terrorist group carried out coordinated attacks against America, nearly 3000 people were killed when terrorists flew commercial
airplanes into the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Today, on the anniversary of the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil, president Joe Biden is scheduled to observe the moment at a military base
in Alaska with service members and their families. First lady, Jill Biden will lay a wreath at the 9/11 Memorial at the Pentagon. And Vice President
Kamala Harris is scheduled to participate in the annual ceremony at the National September 11 Memorial Museum in New York.
We`ll go inside that museum with our Kate Bolduan now as the nation pauses to reflect and remember those who lost their lives on that tragic day.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE DANIELS, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL SEPTEMBER 11 MEMORIAL & MUSEUM: These tridents were from the north tower. They were recovered in the aftermath of
the attacks. We brought them back here and basically built the museum all around them.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Joe Daniels is President and CEO of the 9/11 Memorial.
(On camera): You`re not whitewashing it. This is the raw, dirty material?
DANIELS: Exactly. I mean, this is the steel that, that bore the attacks.
BOLDUAN: The museum is built almost entirely underground. Some 70 feet down, it sits in the precise footprint of the World Trade Center.
(On camera): Yeah.
DANIELS: So this is exactly where the south tower started and went up 1,350 feet.
BOLDUAN: A striking display of the sheer scale of the destruction with poignant reminders of the tragedy at every turn.
(On camera): I mean, this -- this is unbelievable.
DANIELS: This is actually the front of this fire truck. This is the cab.
BOLDUAN: You wouldn`t know?
DANIELS: Wouldn`t know, and it`s -- it`s completely burned out and destroyed.
BOLDUAN: Then there`s the retaining wall that remarkably held strong, even when the towers fell.
DANIELS: When the towers came down, all that debris that was here right in this space, provided bracing for that wall. And when that debris was clear,
there was a big concern that the wall would breach, would flood lower Manhattan.
BOLDUAN: It could have been so much worse, but this wall helped under all of that pressure.
(On camera): Visitors will also walk alongside the survivor stairs.
DANIELS: Used by hundreds of people, as the buildings are crumbling, running from the dust cloud to escape to safety, and, it`s for all our
visitors to understand the story of survival.
BOLDUAN: And likely one of the most emotional stops in the museum. This art installation mimics the blue sky on that fateful morning behind it, the
still unidentified remains of 9/11 victims. The move met with mixed emotion from their families.
DANIELS: A still shocking statistic is that 1100 family members never got any human remains back to bury. Never got to go through the -- the ritual
of laying their loved ones to rest. That`s not a public space at all. Only family members are allowed back behind the wall.
BOLDUAN: Right next door, a room dedicated to the lives of those lost.
DANIELS: Exactly that room is in an area called In Memoriam. And it`s a photographic portrait of each and every one of the 2,983 victims. You see
pictures, a father coaching his son`s little league team, a wedding. You see the lives that were -- that were lost that day. And not just about how
they died, it`s who these people were.
BOLDUAN: Throughout the museum, chilling reminders of the day, handmade flyers for the missing, across emerging from the wreckage, everyday items
simply left behind.
DANIELS: We help through these artifacts and images. Tell that story of just it was panic.
BOLDUAN: And while the museum is vast, one small exhibit has been the biggest source of controversy. Its focus, the terrorists themselves,
including a film criticized for not making a clear enough distinction between Islam and Al-Qaeda.
(On camera): There`s been a lot of criticism. Why give any time to the terrorists?
DANIELS: You know, it`s -- it`s one way to look at it is you don`t build a Holocaust museum and not be very clear that the Nazis were the ones who
committed those atrocities. Al-Qaeda was an extremist terrorist group. But no one will come through this exhibit. And in any way, think that we are
indicting an entire religion, which we in no way are.
BOLDUAN: It seems very appropriate that you end here at the last column?
DANIELS: And it`s, again goes right back to resiliency, seeing those messages of hope and remembrance on this very tall column, that`s still
standing strong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIRE: Around 30 million people, mark September 11th on their calendars each year and participate in charitable activities around the country. To learn
more, you can head to CNN`s Impact Your World site, to find volunteer opportunities and other ways to support those impacted. We`ll put links to
that and ways to support the Morocco earthquake relief efforts in the description of this video, on our YouTube channel.
I`m Coy Wire. Thank you for spending part of your day with us. We`ll see you right back here tomorrow.
END
