Powerful quake in Morocco kills more than 2,000 people and damages historic buildings in Marrakech

A rare, powerful earthquake has struck Morocco, sending people racing from their beds into the darkened streets and toppling buildings in mountainous villages and ancient cities not built to withstand such force.

More than 2,000 people were killed.

The toll is expected to rise as rescuers struggle to get through boulder-strewn roads to remote areas hit hardest.

State television showed people clustered in the streets of Marrakech late at night, afraid to go back inside buildings that might still be unstable.

Morocco’s Interior Ministry said late Saturday that at least 2,012 people died in the quake, mostly in Marrakech and five provinces near the epicenter.

At least 2,059 more people were injured, 1,404 critically.