Nova Scotian in Morocco describes terrifying earthquake experience

Nova Scotia geologist John Calder was enjoying a dinner with other Global Geopark Network executives on a balcony at the regional governor's home in Marrakech, Morocco on Friday night when he and others started to feel a rumbling.

It was a 6.9-magnitude earthquake that would bring death and devastation to a wide swath of the region. The centre of the quake was in the high Atlas Mountains, about 70 kilometres from Marrakech.

"It immediately got stronger," Calder said in a telephone interview Sunday from Marrakech. "I felt like I was a popcorn kernel on a stovetop pot and it became very severe.

"Someone called out 'earthquake' and we tried to immediately get out from underneath an overhanging roof ... because we were immediately concerned of anything overhead."

He said the quake probably lasted about 20 seconds but it felt much longer.

Calder arrived in the city on Sept. 3 for the 10th UNESCO Conference of Global Geoparks, which drew 1,200 delegates from 50 countries.

Among the delegates present were Sacha Brake, Caleb Grant and Colchester County Mayor Christine Blair, representing the Cliffs of Fundy Global Geopark. Calder is also a board member and adviser of that organization.

After the shaking stopped, Calder said he and other dinner guests went out in the street for safety.

He said terror was followed by disbelief. Then they began to take stock.

He said he and the other guests decided to stay outside for about two hours to ensure it was safe and to avoid getting in the way of rescue efforts before heading back to their hotel, located about three kilometres away.

"Our thoughts immediately went to how that area fared and we thought there must be deaths, there must be injuries," he said.

Calder said they saw a steady stream of ambulances and police cars heading into the old town as they made their way back to the hotel.

He said although their hotel was new and suffered minimal damage, everyone was bundled up and sleeping outside when they got there.

Older buildings in the city were not so lucky, Calder said.