Morocco’s Coastal Fears: Tsunami Warnings and Sea Level Changes Spark Concern

The drop in water levels on certain Moroccan coasts this year is not a new phenomenon since it was observed in the Sidi Ifni region last year, explained to Al3omq Ahmed Amezghal, president of the Association of Life and Earth Science Teachers in Morocco, Souss-Massa regional section, adding that this phenomenon has been repeated in many countries such as Palestine, Lebanon and several European countries. Climate change, water depth or the position of the planets, or even the gravity of the moon and sun would be the cause of this phenomenon.

According to Amezghal’s explanations, the most logical hypothesis is the influence of the gravity of the moon and the sun, as they control the tidal movements. Also, he stressed that the withdrawal of the sea can be considered a tidal phenomenon, but it occurs over a larger and exceptional distance. However, he rules out the hypothesis linking the phenomenon to climate change. Global warming and the melting of the polar ice caps lead to a rise in water levels, not a decrease, he further explained. Amezghal also reassured citizens who fear the tsunami phenomenon. "It is far from the causes that lead to the withdrawal of the sea, because a tsunami occurs following an earthquake in the middle of the sea, causing large waves, while what we are observing is a withdrawal of the waters and not the opposite," he continued.

Regarding the installation of panels warning of tsunami-risk zones and streets in coastal cities, particularly on the beach of the Moroccan city of El Jadida, Amezghal said that these panels are part of a project of the National Center for Scientific and Technical Research in partnership with the Chouaib Doukkali Faculty of El Jadida, funded by UNESCO, with the aim of raising awareness of this phenomenon. The city of El Jadida has been chosen as a pilot city to implement this initiative, and the panels will later be extended to all coastal cities, he added.