The Mayor of Bonavista is recounting his experience in the midst of a major earthquake in Morocco.

Around 3,000 people were killed when the 6.8 magnitude earthquake hit the Marrakesh area

John Norman, an earth scientist by trade, was in Marrakesh for a UNESCO Geoparks board conference when the tremors struck. The conference had been speaking about geohazards and earthquakes just the day before.

He says he and his partner had just returned to their hotel room when it all began.

Norman has been in earthquakes before, but says he quickly realized that this one was different.

He says he knew what was happening, but in a few seconds, the tremors were much stronger than he was expecting. That’s when he told his partner they should leave the building.

He says they were lucky, as they were supposed to take a field mission to what ended up being the earthquake zone just the next day. Norman says when he travels, he’s aware of the natural dangers present and plans accordingly.

He says it wasn’t an accident they stayed in that particular hotel. He says where they were in an earthquake zone, he chose a low-rise, modern-build hotel with open spaces around it. That way, Norman says, on the off-chance something like this happens, he’s prepared.