Death toll exceeds 800 after powerful earthquake strikes Morocco UPDATED

Many of the fatalities are said to be in hard-to-reach areas south of Marrakesh.

At least 329 people were injured and are being treated in hospital.

Local television stations broadcast pictures of a fallen mosque minaret, with rubble lying on smashed cars. Others were seen screaming as they ran out of shopping centres and restaurants.

Aftershocks have been reported - with men, women and children staying out in the streets, frightened of further quakes.

10:05

An earthquake in Morocco's High Atlas mountains has killed nearly 300 people, according to the country’s Interior Ministry.

The deaths were in Marrakesh and in areas to the south. The tremor toppled buildings and sent people fleeing their homes in several cities late on September 8. More than 150 have been taken to hospital for treatment.

“According to a provisional report, the earthquake killed 296 people in the provinces and municipalities of Al Haouz, Marrakesh, Ouarzazate, Azilal, Chichaoua and Taroudant,” the ministry said.

Residents of Marrakesh, the nearest major city to the epicentre, said some buildings had collapsed in the old city, a Unesco World Heritage site, and local television showed pictures of a fallen mosque minaret with rubble lying on smashed cars.

Fatma Ezzahra Bouraym, a 22-year-old resident of Casablanca, told The National that the quake could be felt across Morocco.

"No one is spending the night inside tonight, we are frightened."

The magnitude 6.8 quake's epicentre was at a depth of 18.5km and occurred in the Atlas Mountains about 72km southwest of Marrakesh at just after 11 pm local time, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).

Morocco experiences frequent earthquakes in its northern region because of its position between the African and Eurasian plates.

In 2004, at least 628 people were killed and 926 injured when a quake hit Al Hoceima in north-eastern Morocco.

The 1980, the 7.3-magnitude El Asnam earthquake in neighbouring Algeria was one of the largest and most destructive earthquakes in recent history. It killed 2,500 people and left at least 300,000 homeless.