Albania earthquake: At least 16 dead and 300 injured after most powerful quake in decades strikes Tirana

At least 16 people have been killed and 300 injured after the most powerful earthquake to hit Albania in decades rocked the country.

The 6.4-magnitude tremor struck in the early hours of Tuesday morning, causing several buildings to cave in and burying residents in the rubble.

The country’s defence ministry said a man and a woman were killed when a building collapsed in Thumane, 22 miles north of the capital Tirana.

Another man died after jumping from his home to escape the shaking building in Kurbin, 30 miles north of the capital, Albanian officials confirmed, while three more victims were pulled from the ruins of a building in Durres.

One of those killed was an elderly woman who saved her grandson by cradling him with her body, according to emergency workers.

Albania Earthquake - In pictures

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Some 10 million people in Montenegro, Italy, North Macedonia, Greece and Bulgaria also felt the tremor when it struck at 3.55am, seismologist Branko Dragicevic told local media in Serbia.

Just hours later, at around 9.45am, a 5.4-magnitude quake shook neighbouring Bosnia. There are no immediate reports of injuries or structural damage.

The devastating Albanian earthquake, was centred 19 miles northwest of Tirana, with the worst of the damage reported in the Adriatic coastal town of Durres.

Dramatic video posted to social media from the town showed at least one large building there reduced to rubble.

Other footage showed buildings with large cracks and fallen masonry, including one apartment with most of a bedroom wall missing.

A number of buildings were reduced to rubble in Durres, western Albania
AP

Refik, a Tirana resident said: "Everything at home kept falling down.

"We were awake because of the previous quakes, but the last one shook us around."

A spokesperson for the defence ministry confirmed that people remained trapped beneath debris in the town, saying firefighters and army staff were working to rescue them.

One unidentified man, with a wound to his right cheek, told News24 TV that his daughter and niece were among those trapped in a collapsed apartment building.

"I talked with my daughter and niece on the phone,” he said. “They said they are well and are waiting for the rescue. Could not talk to my wife. There are other families, but I could not talk to them.”

Three hours after the main tremor, a strong aftershock rocked Tirana which is known for its colourful mix of architecture from its Ottoman, Fascist and Soviet past.

Power was down in a number of neighbourhoods, according to local reports.

Residents gather outdoors in Tirana after the quake and its aftershocks rocked the capital
AFP via Getty Images

Health minister Ogerta Manastirliu said some 300 people were treated for injuries in Durres, Tirana and Thumane.

Albanian prime minister Edi Rama said all government agencies were on alert and were "intensively working to save lives at the fatal spots".

"It is a dramatic moment where we should preserve calm, stay alongside each other to cope with this shock," he wrote on his Facebook page.

Mr Rama added that neighbouring Kosovo is sending an emergency team to help the country deal with the incident.

Emergency workers help an injured man in Thurane
REUTERS

Several smaller tremors were recorded in the hour before the main quake, which was also felt across the Balkans and in the southern Italian region of Puglia.

"We were awake because of the previous quakes, but the last one shook us around," a Tirana resident told news agency Reuters.

"Everything at home kept falling down," he said of the scene in his sixth-floor apartment.

Military personnel and locals work near a damaged building in Thumane
REUTERS

Located along the Adriatic and Ionian Seas, between Greece and Macedonia, Albania experiences regular seismic activity.

It was the second quake to hit the region in two months, after a 5.6-magnitude tremor struck on September 21, damaging around 500 homes.

Authorities at the time said it was the most powerful in 30 years.

The images of collapsed or semi-collapsed buildings in urban areas suggested Tuesday's quake was more powerful than one in 1979 which razed a neighbourhood of the northern town of Shkoder, bordering Montenegro. Neither of those two earlier earthquakes caused any fatalities.

The Balkan nation is the poorest country in Europe, with an average income of less than a third of the European Union average, according to Eurosta.

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