Jacqueline Bouskila Twizer and her 10 siblings traveled to Marrakesh to commemorate relatives lost in deadly 1960 earthquake, only to experience another tremor themselves; ‘I came here with all my siblings, only to relive what our family endured 63 years ago,’ she says

Jacqueline Bouskila Twizer of Rishon LeZion, who traveled to Marrakesh, Morocco with her 10 siblings, safely survived a 6.8 magnitude earthquake that struck the country over the weekend.

This isn’t the first earthquake encounter for her family. On February 29, 1960, ten of her relatives—three cousins and seven second cousins—were killed in the devastating Agadir earthquake in Morocco, which resulted in 12,000 to 15,000 fatalities and approximately 25,000 injuries.

“I came here with all my siblings, only to relive what our family endured 63 years ago. I can’t put into words how symbolic and emotional this experience has been for me,” she said.

The family’s plan for the trip was to arrive in Agadir on Sunday and meet with their cousin who was the sole survivor of the quake back in 1960, before joining him and visiting the graves of their 10 family members in order to hold a memorial service for them.

“They didn’t find all the bodies. Only three adults and two children were located. The rest were buried in a mass grave,” she said.

Since roads were closed after the quake in Marrakesh, the family won’t be able to travel to Agadir and visit the graves. “Only one survivor from our family remained after the earthquake in 1960, the one we were supposed to meet before heading to the graves. I wasn’t so afraid of the quake, but remembering our family tragedy is hard,” Bouskila Twizer told Ynet.

“We were at our hotel when suddenly we felt a strong tremor,” she recounted. “I thought the hotel had put on a show, so I didn’t think anything was wrong. Then I saw people running. I gathered my family, and we headed outside to the pool. We were only allowed to return to our rooms at 4am,” she said.