Musée Mémorial de la Catastrophe d’Agadir 1960

The Musée Mémorial de la Catastrophe d’Agadir 1960 is dedicated to preserving the memory of one of the deadliest earthquakes in Moroccan history, which struck on 29 February 1960 at 11:47 PM local time, measuring 5.7 on the Richter scale and lasting only 15 seconds but destroying virtually the entire city and killing an estimated 15,000 people. The museum tells the story of old Agadir, its inhabitants, and their daily lives before the earthquake, drawing on photographs, maps, objects, documents, and oral testimonies collected from survivors and their descendants. Archival photographs show the city as it was, allowing visitors to understand what was lost in those fifteen seconds and to appreciate the human scale of the tragedy. The museum also traces the remarkable story of the city’s reconstruction under the leadership of King Mohammed V, who personally visited the ruins within days of the disaster and oversaw the planning of a new city built according to seismic safety standards. The reconstruction of Agadir became a symbol of Moroccan national solidarity and modernism, and the new city that emerged from the rubble is fundamentally different in character from historic Moroccan medinas. Exhibitions explain how urban planners, architects, and engineers from Morocco and internationally collaborated to build a functional, modern city on the site of the old one, while memorial sites scattered around the city mark the locations of key losses. The museum is a place of quiet reflection and historical memory, particularly moving for descendants of earthquake survivors.