At the ready Two nations' different responses to natural catastrophe

Two disasters struck this month: the earthquake in Morocco and devastating flooding in Libya. At least 2,900 people are known to have died in the 6.8-magnitude earthquake that struck in Morocco's High Atlas mountains on 8 September, and the authorities say the toll will rise.

- Rupert Neate

Three days later, intense flooding in Libya led to the collapse of two dams that unleashed a torrent of mud and water into Derna, destroying large parts of the eastern city. Officials have said as many as 30,000 people are missing.

Morocco and Libya may be geographically close- just a 2,000km hop across Algeria - but they could not be more different. This has had a huge impact on their ability to respond to the disasters.

Peter Beaumont, a senior Guardian international reporter, spent last week in the Atlas mountains and is a veteran of several reporting trips to Libya. He said: "Libya is a failed - or semi-failed - state that has been caught up in a protracted civil war since 2011, which has obviously had a massive impact on the country's infrastructure and social cohesion.

"Morocco, on the other hand, is a functioning modern state. The place works Marrakech, Tangier, Rabat are all modern cities. Ordinary people have been mobilised on a mass scale, and there is a very strong sense of nationhood."