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In Pictures

Gallery|Earthquakes

Photos: Morocco earthquake survivors deal with mental scars

The powerful quake killed nearly 3,000 people, most of them in remote villages of the High Atlas Mountains.

MOROCCO-QUAKE
Children queue to play on the trampoline at a shelter camp in the earthquake-hit village of Asni in Al-Haouz province. [AFP]
Published On 21 Sep 202321 Sep 2023
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When Khadija Temera, a survivor of Morocco’s devastating earthquake, was sent to a psychiatrist, she was just one of the many newly traumatised patients.

Beyond the physical devastation, soldiers and aid workers say, it is becoming increasingly clear that many of the survivors are facing severe mental suffering.

“The most important thing is that we are alive,” said Temera, her henna-stained fingers fiddling with a piece of paper, her eyes swollen with tears.

But now she wants to “heal her heart”, she had her first consultation with a psychiatrist, seeking balm for the trauma inflicted by the earthquake.

She had first gone to see a regular doctor for hypertension. But Moroccan troops in the area quickly referred her to the psychiatrist, who said he had seen about 100 patients since the previous day out of the 500 who came to the field hospital in Asni, approximately 90km (55 miles) south of the tourist hub of Marrakesh.

Flashbacks from the fateful day continue to haunt Temera: of stairs collapsing and trapping her and the nine members of her family before they could be rescued.

Next to her on a bench, a mute woman was also waiting for a consultation, her hands clasped across her chest and breathing heavily. She has lost both her children.

After her comes the turn of a man in his 30s, his eyes red from crying.

MOROCCO-QUAKE
Survivors find themselves in a 'state of acute stress with symptoms, often physical at first', Adil Akanour, psychiatrist at the makeshift hospital, said, adding that dizziness, palpitations, headaches and abdominal pain can be symptoms that 'hide' a psychological problem. [AFP]
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According to the World Health Organization, nearly everyone who experiences such an emergency will suffer some psychological problems, which, in most cases, will fade with time. [AFP]
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Children paint at a shelter camp in the earthquake-hit village of Asni. [AFP]
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A woman walks with x-rays and a child at the military field hospital for earthquake survivors. [AFP]
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A patient receives medical treatment in the earthquake-hit village of Asni. [AFP]
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An elderly man receives medication from a pharmacy tent at the military field hospital. [AFP]
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MOROCCO-QUAKE
The separation of families, insecurity, loss of livelihoods and disruption of social contacts are all potential psychological problems, according to the WHO, which recommends urgent care to prevent the development of post-traumatic stress disorder. [AFP]
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Entire villages were swallowed up. And with them, the lives of hundreds of modest families. Thousands of people were left homeless, the majority now living alone in makeshift tents. [AFP]
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Patients wait outside a medical tent at the military field hospital. [AFP]


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