9.11.2023

Deadly Quake in Morocco 

More than 2,100 people were killed after a 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck the North African country of Morocco early Saturday, with officials warning the death toll would likely rise as rescue teams searched through a number of mountain villages. The tremors were felt as far north as Portugal. 

The quake struck in the High Atlas mountain range, roughly 50 miles south of the city of Marrakesh, with tremors felt throughout the western half of the country (see maps). While intense quakes are rare in the region—it is believed to be the strongest in the region in 120 years—the country sits just south of the boundary between the Eurasian and African tectonic plates. 

A number of historic buildings were damaged, including a 12th-century mosque built during the Berber period in North Africa. Officials said many of the mud-and-brick buildings in villages were susceptible to damage, with the quake striking at 11 pm local time when many families were at home. 

See photos of the aftermath here.

Gauff Wins Title

American teenager Coco Gauff won the women's singles title at the US Open in New York Saturday, defeating top-ranked Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka in three sets. The win marks the 19-year-old's first Grand Slam title and makes her the first American teenager to win the tournament since Serena Williams in 1999. 

Despite her documented speed in defending shots across the baseline, Gauff was overpowered by Sabalenka's strength in the first set. But the momentum shifted Gauff's way and she came back to win the final two sets as Sabalenka ran up 46 unforced errors, twice as many as Gauff. Watch match highlights here.

Gauff's career launched at age 15 when she became the youngest qualifier in Wimbledon history; she reached her first major final in last year's French Open, finishing as runner-up. 

On the men's side, Novak Djokovic became the oldest player to win the US Open and notched his 24th Grand Slam title against Daniil Medvedev, a record in the Open era.

Lee Churns in the Atlantic

Hurricane Lee continued to churn in the Atlantic Ocean over the weekend, sitting as a Category 2 storm as of this writing, located a few hundred miles north of Puerto Rico. The storm reached Category 5 status late last week, losing intensity as it encountered significant wind shear, which disrupted the system's circulation. 

Lee is currently headed toward the US Southeast; models predict it will strengthen back into a Category 4 hurricane but also turn northward well short of the mainland sometime around Wednesday. Meteorologists say whether the storm will make landfall along the upper US east coast depends upon a range of factors, including whether an incoming high-pressure ridge will nudge the system in a particular direction. 

Lee was the first Category 5 hurricane of the season, which runs from June 1 until the end of November. See the science behind how hurricanes form here. 

Science & Technology

Business & Markets

Politics & World Affairs

Remembering 9/11 in photos. 

The best free tourist sites in every country and state.

How weird objects end up in packaged food. 

Mapping America's billionaires. 

The NFL's dominance, in numbers. 

German circus deploys hologram animals. 

Texas natives least likely to leave their state.

Connecticut residents take revenge on Benedict Arnold. 

Clickbait: Searching for the laziest person in Montenegro. 

Historybook: College football coach Bear Bryant born (1913); Chilean President Salvador Allende dies by suicide in midst of coup d'état (1973); Pete Rose breaks baseball’s all-time hits record (1985); Coordinated terrorist attacks in US kill 2,996, injure over 6,000 others (2001); US diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, attacked resulting in death of four Americans (2012).