Emergency workers clear debris at a damaged building in Thumane, 34 kilometers northwest of capital Tirana, after an earthquake hit Albania, on November 26, 2019. Photo: VCG

Albanian rescuers were digging through rubble in search of survivors on Tuesday after the strongest earthquake in decades leveled buildings and trapped victims under the debris, claiming at least 13 lives and injuring more than 600 people.

The 6.4-magnitude quake struck at 3:54 am local time (02:54 GMT), with an epicenter 34 kilometers northwest of the capital Tirana in the Adriatic Sea, according to the European-Mediterranean Seismological Center.

In Tirana, panicked residents ran out on the streets and huddled together in the darkness, an AFP reporter said. 

The worst damage was in and around the coastal city of Durres.

Four bodies, including that of a young girl, were pulled from ruins in the port city, where a hotel collapsed and other buildings were badly damaged, the defense ministry said.

Three more bodies were found in rubble in the nearby town of Thumane. In the nearby town of Kurbin, a man in his 50s died after jumping from his building in panic, while ­another perished in a car accident after the earthquake tore open parts of the road, it said.

The health ministry said more than 600 people received first aid in hospitals.

Some 300 armed forces personnel have rushed to Durres and Thumane for rescue operations, where "there are people trapped under the ruins," defense ministry spokeswoman Albana Qahajaj said.

About 1,900 police officers have also been deployed to help.

In Thumane, around a ­dozen rescuers used an excavator to dig through a mountain of debris in search of possible victims.

Tuesday's quake was the strongest to hit the Durres region since 1926, seismologist Rrapo Ormeni told local television.

The tremors were felt across the Balkan region, from Sarajevo to Bosnia and even in the Serbian city of Novi Sad almost 700 kilometers away, according to reports in local media and on social networks.

It was followed by several ­aftershocks, including one of 5.3 magnitude, the EMSC said. It was described by authorities as the strongest earthquake in the last 20-30 years.

The Balkans is an area prone to seismic activity and earthquakes are frequent.