Rescuers in Morocco have stepped up efforts to find survivors of a devastating earthquake that killed more than 2,100 people and flattened villages.

According to official figures updated, the first foreign rescuers flew in to help after the North African country’s strongest-ever quake killed at least 2,122 people and injured more than 2,400 persons.

The 6.8-magnitude quake struck 72 kilometres southwest of the tourist hub of Marrakesh, and an aftershock of magnitude 4.5 rattled already-traumatized residents in the same region.