Morocco earthquake: why traditional earthen architecture is not to blame for the destruction communities have endured

By Louise Cooke, University of York

The 6.9 magnitude earthquake that hit Morocco on Friday, September 8 has claimed almost 3,000 lives. A further 5,530 people are injured, and the death toll is expected to rise.

The epicentre was high in the Atlas Mountains. Entire villages have been flattened. Neighbourhoods in Marrakech, the Old City in particular, suffered significant damage.

Much of the media coverage has focused on the region’s traditional architecture. Antonio Nogales, head of Spain’s United Firefighters Without Borders NGO told Reuters that the chances of survival are greatly reduced due to the traditional building materials turning to rubble and not creating pockets of air in the way that steel-and-concrete buildings can when they collapse.

Interviewed by the Washington Post, US earthquake geologist Wendy Bohon said these were not buildings “built to withstand the strong shaking from their base. So they are very likely to collapse and damage like we’ve seen.” These views assume these traditional structures are weak and liable to damage, ill-suited to an earthquake-prone region.

In the immediate aftermath of an earthquake, it is common for local building cultures to be blamed for their own destruction. My research into earth buildings shows, however, how this type of structure is in fact designed to be resilient. Vulnerabilities arise when patterns of knowledge transfer – and the traditional systems of repair and maintenance – are disrupted. Further, when new materials, such as concrete and cement, are introduced, they can be incompatible and so can reduce the buildings’ seismic resilience.

The resilience of earth buildings

Earth has been used as a building material for at least the last 12,000 years. Ethnographic research into earth being used as an element of Aboriginal architecture in Australia suggests its use probably goes back much further.

The huge variety in earthen architecture – which encompasses everything from defensive, religious and elite structures to everyday housing – reflects local geographies, geologies and climates.

There are adobe structures in the American south west and the mudbrick of Mali’s grand mosque in Djenne.

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