MOROCCO'S earthquake damaged 2,930 villages in the High Atlas mountains with a total population of 2.8 million people, the minister in charge of the budget said. The 6.8 magnitude earthquake that struck on Sept. 8 killed more than 2,900 people, most of them in hard-to-reach mountainous areas. At least 59,674 houses were damaged, of which 32% have totally collapsed, the minister, Faouzi Lekjaa, said in a presentation at parliament. The government would offer 2,500 dirhams ($244) monthly over a year in aid to quake-stricken households, in addition to 140,000 dirhams compensation paid for totally destroyed homes and 80,000 for partially…