AL HOCEIMA, Feb 25: The death toll from a powerful earthquake in northern Morocco rose to at least 564, but rescuers kept up a frantic search on Wednesday for survivors under the rubble of devastated mud-brick homes.

Hundreds of other people were reported injured in and around the Mediterranean port city of Al Hoceima when the quake, measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale, struck early on Tuesday as many people were sleeping in their houses.

"The death toll has risen to 564," Health Minister Mohamed Cheikh Biadillah told state television 2M. Dozens of aftershocks and rain made relief efforts even more difficult in outlying villages in the foothills of the Rif mountains.

Many people spent the night in the open or under sheeting and other makeshift shelters because their homes were destroyed. Some said they just felt safer away from buildings.

Villagers, some digging with their bare hands or shovels to search for survivors, said heavy equipment and sniffer dogs were needed. "They sent the military which basically ordered us to stop digging, but they couldn't do much themselves for lack of equipment," said Abdelkhalek, a teacher who did not want to give his full name.

In his village of Ait Kamara, 18 kms to the south of Al Hoceima, many houses were flattened like cardboard boxes. "I woke up to a big bang, I don't even remember how I managed to escape from the house," said Abdelkhalek. His parents, three brothers and one sister were killed when their home was reduced to rubble in a nearby hamlet. -Reuters