Six dead after strongest quake in decades hits Albania

• The 6.4 magnitude quake is the second powerful tremor to hit the region in two months.
• The quake was centered 30 km west of Tirana, at a shallow depth of 10 km.
• The bodies of two women were found in an apartment building in Thumane.

(Tirana) At least six people have died after the most powerful earthquake to hit Albania in decades rocked the capital of Tirana and surrounding region early on Tuesday (November 26), causing several buildings to collapse and burying residents in the rubble.

The 6.4 magnitude quake struck shortly before 4 a.m. local time (0300 GMT), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said, the second powerful tremor to hit the region in two months.

It was centered 30 km (19 miles) west of Tirana, at a shallow depth of 10 km (6 miles), the USGS said.

Locals and military personnel were pictured working together in the village of Thumane, 40 km north of Tirana, to clear rubble and rescue survivors.

The bodies of two women were found in an apartment building in Thumane, according to the Defence Ministry. A man in the town of Kurbin died after panicking and jumping out of a building, and the bodies of three more victims were found in two collapsed buildings in Durres.

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