In pictures: Albania earthquake
Rescue workers have been working to rescue trapped residents from collapsed buildings after the country's worst earthquake in decades.
Early morning earthquake
The earthquake hit shortly before shortly before 4 a.m. as people slept. Witnesses reported buildings partially collapsing around them as they woke up.
Buildings collapse
Many people were trapped under the rubble when residential buildings in the towns of Thumane and Durres collapsed. One man in Kurbin died trying to escape a building by jumping out of the window.
Rescue attempts
Rescue teams were racing to recover survivors, but the authorities described their work as "extremely difficult" due to high risk of more structures collapsing.
Help from Kosovo
The neighboring Kosovo, which also populated mostly by Albanians, sent a contigent of vehicles and emergency responders across the border. Other Balkan countries and the EU all pledged to deploy rescuers and equipment.
Many injured
By early afternoon, hundreds of people had been reported injured and scores were hospitalized. Soldiers were erecting hundreds of tents to house those who were left without safe homes.
Quake felt by millions
While only Albanian authorities were reporting causalities, the quake was felt all over the Balkan Peninsula, including northern Serbia, Greece, and Bulgaria.
Worst earthquake in decades
The 6.4-magnitude earthquake was the most powerful felt in the past 30 years, according to the Defense Ministry. Images of collapsed buildings suggested it may have been worse than the 1979 quake that razed a neighborhood of a northern town.