Morocco's most powerful earthquake in six decades killed more than a thousand people and injured hundreds more.

It toppled houses in remote mountain villages, where most of the deaths occurred.

The magnitude 6.8 quake struck in the High Atlas mountains late on Friday night.

This video captured the moment it struck in Marrakech, the closest city to the epicenter.

Houses collapsed and buildings were damaged in its densely built old city, a UNESCO world heritage site.

The minaret fell from this mosque in the historic Jemaa el-Fna square and the medieval city wall cracked.

Marrakech resident Miloud Skrout says he was unable to get his sick parents out of their house because of the destruction.

Tri, an Australian, was in Marrakech on a tour.

"The room started shaking. It was just.. yes the room started shaking. It no other way, we were going back and forward and everything started moving and pictures started moving and so we just grabbed so clothes."

Residents spent the night in the open in many cities, afraid to go indoors. In Marrakech, some people camped out on pool deckchairs.

It was Morocco's deadliest earthquake since 1960, when a tremor was estimated to have killed at least 12,000 people, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Governments around the world offered support, including Turkey, where powerful earthquakes in February killed more than 50,000 people.