The impact of the earthquake in Morocco Friday is also being felt in the Bay Area as people try to get in contact with family members who live in-country.
Mourad Lahlou, who is from Marrakech, is a chef and owns the San Francisco restaurants Mourad and Aziza. He said that downed telephone lines made it difficult to contact his family.
"I was able to reach my sister, and at the time when I reached her they were all just camping in their car because they were not able to go home and find out what was going on," Lahlou explained.
Lahlou added that he fears the quake's toll may be even greater than what has already been reported.
“A lot of people are still under rubble,” he said. “A lot of people are still unaccounted for. And I can promise you, just from talking to people on the ground, everyone knows somebody who is missing.”
"I knew that it was going to be devastating in Morocco, just because the city is old — especially in the old city of Medina — it’s just old and the buildings are built in a way where there’s not a lot of seismic reinforcement," he continued.
Lahlou said he was in the process of organizing fundraising efforts for Morocco with chefs across the country.
Other staff at Morrocan restaurants around the city told NBC Bay Area they'd spent the day Saturday trying to check on loved ones who lived through the quake.
Hicham Senhaji, who works as Head Chef at Berber restaurant in San Francisco, said he was able to check in on his mom and is relieved that she is alright so far.
Senhaji is from the city of Rabat in Morocco. He said he has friends who have lost loved ones in this quake.
Get a weekly recap of the latest San Francisco Bay Area housing news. Sign up for NBC Bay Area’s Housing Deconstructed newsletter.
"Since this event happened, we’re talking to the bosses and we’re going to do a fundraiser dinner and give a percentage to the people back home," Senhaji said.
"There are a lot of people who lost their homes, lost their families, he noted.
