The damage proxy map revealed above is a NASA Earth Observatory variation of a map created by the Earth Observatory of Singapore– Remote Sensing Lab (EOS-RS). The in-depth views of the damage proxy map below program damage in Adassil and Tafeghaghte, towns near the quakes center. Dark red pixels represent locations likely to have severe damage to structures, homes, and facilities or modifications to the landscape. Orange and yellow areas are moderately or partly damaged. Adassil, a town less than 10 kilometers from the center, had prevalent damage after experiencing some of the quakes most extreme shaking.
NASA Earth Observatory damage proxy map revealing the devastation in the High Atlas Mountains from the September 8, 2023, earthquake in Morocco. It utilizes satellite data from May 26 through September 11, 2023.
Neighborhoods in the High Atlas Mountains were amongst the hardest hit after a magnitude 6.8 earthquake caused prevalent damage.
A powerful earthquake has devasted neighborhoods in western Morocco. The magnitude 6.8 quake struck on September 8, 2023, approximately 40 miles (70 kilometers) southwest of Marrakesh, at a depth of 16 miles (26 kilometers), shaking homes and triggering countless deaths and extensive damage.
The Role of Satellite Imaging in Assessing Damage
The damage proxy map shown above is a NASA Earth Observatory version of a map produced by the Earth Observatory of Singapore– Remote Sensing Lab (EOS-RS). The map uses modified Copernicus Sentinel-1 satellite information processed by the European Space Agency (ESA) and with software originally developed at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Caltech and modified at EOS-RS. It is stemmed from synthetic aperture radar images caught before (May 26, 2023, through August 30, 2023) and after (September 11, 2023) the earthquake.
To map the landscape, consisting of buildings, Sentinel-1s radar sends pulses of microwaves toward the Earths surface area and “listens” for reflected echoes of those waves. In the map above, the damage proxy information from EOS-RS was laid over a Landsat 9 image and integrated with a digital elevation model based upon data collected by the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission.
The comprehensive views of the damage proxy map below program damage in Adassil and Tafeghaghte, towns near the quakes center. Dark red pixels represent locations likely to have severe damage to structures, homes, and infrastructure or changes to the landscape. Orange and yellow locations are moderately or partly harmed. Each pixel determines about 30 meters across (about the size of a baseball infield).
Detailed views of the damage proxy map reveal damage in Adassil and Tafeghaghte, towns near the quakes center.
Effect on Local Communities
While city areas in Marrakesh experienced strong, damaging shaking, the most extreme damage occurred in little communities in rural, mountainous areas in the High Atlas Mountains. Adassil, a village less than 10 kilometers from the center, had prevalent damage after experiencing a few of the quakes most extreme shaking. Much of Tafeghaghte has actually been decreased to rubble, and half of the towns locals are dead or missing, the BBC reported.
Initial validation of the damage proxy map was done by comparing it with high-resolution optical images and media reports, according to the Earth Observatory of Singapore– Remote Sensing Lab. The map can be used as guidance to determine damaged areas, it is less reliable over vegetated areas, the lab cautioned.
Historical Perspective
Unusual, big earthquakes have happened in western Morocco before. In 1960, a damaging 5.9 magnitude quake struck seaside Morocco near Agadir and triggered as many as 15,000 casualties. Historic data from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reveal that up until 2023, no other earthquakes magnitude 6 or bigger have been recorded within 500 kilometers of the Agadir event considering that 1900. Quakes of that strength are more typical in the northern part of Morocco near the Mediterranean Sea, where a magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck in February 2004 and a magnitude 6.3 in January 2016, the USGS noted in a release.
NASAs Involvement
NASAs Earth Applied Sciences Disasters program location has actually been activated in support of the earthquake in Morocco. As brand-new details ends up being available, the team will be posting maps and information products on its open-access mapping portal.
NASA Earth Observatory image by Michala Garrison, utilizing customized Copernicus Sentinel information (2020) processed by ESA and analyzed by the Earth Observatory of Singapore– Remote Sensing Lab (EOS-RS) with software originally established at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Caltech and customized at EOS-RS. The Earth Observatory variation of the map was laid over Landsat information from the U.S. Geological Survey and combined with a digital elevation model from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission.
