Chareidi photographer Shuki Lehrer was in Morocco on Shabbos when the devastating earthquake struck.

The epicenter of the quake was in Marrakech and the surrounding areas, about three hours from the port city of Essaouira, where Lehrer and over 1,500 Jews were marking the yahrzeit of Rebbe Chaim Pinto, z’tl, known as Rebbe Chaim Pinto HaGadol.

Lehrer told B’Chadrei Chareidim that even in Essaouri, they felt the quake. “We’re here with 1,500 Jews from all over the world,” he said. “Everything shook here on Friday night. People panicked, everyone ran. People went to sleep by the beach on mattresses out of fear [of aftershocks]. B’Chasdei Shamayim, no one was injured. We davened all Shabbos that everything will be good. On Motzei Shabbos, we heard about the magnitude of the disaster.”

Below is a video of the Jews in Essaouri listening to Havdalah at the end of Shabbos, recited by Rebbe Dovid Chananya Pinto.

Two shuls in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Marrakech were damaged in the quake. Below is a video of the ancient Slat al-Azama shul, which although damaged is still standing amid rubble.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)