The Atlas Mountains after the 2023 earthquake: what has been rebuilt, and visiting in 2026
Three years after the September 2023 earthquake: the official rebuilding figures, the state of Imlil, Toubkal and Tinmel, and how to visit in a way that helps.
By Ismail6 min read
Three years after the earthquake of 8 September 2023, the High Atlas is open to visitors: the road to Imlil, the trails, the Toubkal refuge and the village guesthouses are all working, and about nine in ten damaged homes have been rebuilt. The reconstruction is not over, though: thousands of homes, schools and mosques are still being built or repaired, and the 12th-century mosque of Tinmel is still under restoration. Here is where things stand at the end of 2026, and how to visit the Atlas Mountains in a way that helps.
What happened on 8 September 2023
At 23:11 local time, an earthquake of magnitude 6.8 (the USGS figure) struck the High Atlas. Its epicentre lay in the commune of Ighil, in Al Haouz province, about 70 km south-west of Marrakech. The government's toll reached 2,960 dead, and more than 5,600 people were injured. Al Haouz and Taroudant provinces counted most of the victims, and villages in Chichaoua, Ouarzazate and Azilal provinces were also damaged.
The mountain villages, many of them built of stone and earth on steep slopes, took the worst of it. Some of the hardest-hit places lay along the road to the Tizi n'Test pass, around Talat N'Yaaqoub and Tinmel. In all, about 60,000 homes have had to be rebuilt or repaired. In Marrakech, the minaret of the small Kharbouch mosque on Jemaa el-Fna fell, and old houses in the medina were damaged.
Where the rebuilding stands in 2026
Within two weeks, the state announced a five-year programme, now budgeted at 120 billion dirhams (about €11 billion) for 2024 to 2028 and covering some 4.2 million people. Families received 140,000 dirhams (about €13,000) to rebuild a destroyed house, or 80,000 (about €7,500) to repair a damaged one, paid in instalments, plus 2,500 dirhams (about €230) a month for a year.
These are the latest official figures we found:
| What | Figure | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Homes finished | 54,425, with more than 3,000 still being built | March 2026 |
| Housing programme | about 91% complete, some 5,100 sites still open | end of August 2026 |
| Families given monthly emergency aid | more than 63,000 | March 2026 |
| Schools | 372 of 1,718 finished, 1,090 under way | March 2026 |
| Health centres | 110 reopened, 37 being rebuilt | March 2026 |
| Mosques | 1,239 of 2,217 damaged mosques reopened | September 2025 |
| Hotels and other tourist lodgings | 235 reopened | March 2026 |
The March figures come from a government review held on 17 March 2026, the August ones from the notes to the 2027 budget bill. The two reports count slightly differently, so their totals don't match exactly, but the picture is the same: about nine homes in ten are finished, and schools and mosques are further behind.
Not every family is home yet. In March 2025, the authorities still counted 3,211 tents in Al Haouz province, down from 35,500, and the press described families who had been living in them for 17 months. In September 2025, the programme's coordinator in Al Haouz said the last tents had come down. In the summer of 2026, associations of earthquake victims said some households were still waiting for all the aid they were owed, or living in unfinished houses.
Imlil, Toubkal and the valleys today
Imlil itself came off more lightly than the worst-hit villages, as businesses there reported at the time, but houses were damaged all along the valley. The road reopened within days. Within two weeks, the local mountain guides were clearing the paths up Toubkal so that visitors could come back, and by December 2023 climbers were again spending the night at the refuge below the summit.
The harder blow came next: the weeks after the quake, normally a busy season, brought almost no foreign visitors, and with them went the income of guides, muleteers, guesthouses and small restaurants. That has changed. In the summer of 2026, the Moroccan press described Imlil welcoming Moroccan and foreign visitors again, in a village whose people rely heavily on tourism.
On the drive up through Asni and on the walks between the hamlets, you see a landscape being rebuilt. Many families rebuilt in concrete, so new rendered houses stand next to older ones of stone and earth, and you will pass the odd building site. Imlil is about an hour and a half from Marrakech, so the valleys fit easily into an Atlas Mountains day trip from Marrakech. If you plan to climb, the earthquake changed nothing in the rules: a licensed guide is mandatory, as we explain in our guide to climbing Toubkal.
One road is less clear. The R203 over the Tizi n'Test pass towards Taroudant was blocked by rockfalls in 2023 and, according to travellers' reports, was still a long building site in 2025. We found no reliable report on its state in 2026, so ask us before you plan to drive it.
The mountains have also had a wet winter at last: Morocco declared the end of a seven-year drought in January 2026, and we look at what that means for rivers and snow in Morocco after the drought.
Is it safe to visit the Atlas Mountains now?
Yes, with the usual care you take in any mountains. The UK Foreign Office does not advise against travel to the region: its Morocco travel advice lists earthquakes as a general risk in the country and recommends a professional guide for hikes in the Atlas. Small tremors still happen: on 3 September 2025, a magnitude 4.6 quake centred on Talat N'Yaaqoub was felt around Marrakech, with no damage reported. Day to day, weather, winter snow and altitude matter more.
Tinmel mosque and the damaged monuments
The mosque of Tinmel, built by the Almohads in the 12th century about 100 km from Marrakech, is the best-known monument the earthquake struck. It was midway through an 18-month restoration when the quake brought down its minaret and outer walls and filled the prayer hall with rubble. In 2024, teams sorted the debris arch by arch to reuse as much of the original brick and carved decoration as possible. Work started again in 2025 with a new contractor, funded by the Ministry of Habous and Islamic Affairs, beginning with the walls and pillars that were still standing. No reopening date has been announced, and we found nothing to say visitors can go inside.
Beyond Tinmel, restoration projects were under way at 64 historic and archaeological sites in March 2026. In Marrakech, scaffolding went up on the Kharbouch mosque within two weeks of the quake; we found no official word on whether its minaret is finished.
Is it right to visit? How your trip helps
Yes, and the villages count on it. Around Imlil, much of the population lives from tourism, as guides, muleteers, cooks, guesthouse owners or craftspeople. To keep your money in the valley:
- Hire a guide from the valley. For Toubkal it is mandatory anyway; for a day walk it is a family's income.
- Sleep in a village guesthouse rather than driving up and down for a photo.
- Eat in a family home. On our Imlil day, lunch is at our guide's family home, and our cooking class in a Berber home takes place in a mountain village.
- Buy from cooperatives. 180 local cooperatives received funding to repair and re-equip after the quake, and buying from them is one of the most direct ways to help.
And a few manners that matter more here than elsewhere:
- Ask before photographing people, and don't photograph damaged houses, tents or families as if they were a sight.
- Dress modestly in the villages, with shoulders and knees covered.
- If you want to give more, choose an established charity working in the region rather than handing out money or sweets.
Our tip
Go with a guide from the valley. They know which paths changed after the quake, where the building sites are, and they are the people your visit pays. Our Imlil day trip and our 4-day Toubkal trek are led by local guides: ask us on WhatsApp about conditions before you go.