The death toll from a powerful earthquake that struck near the Albanian capital of Tirana on early Tuesday has risen to 15, the Euronews Albania broadcaster reported
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th November, 2019) The death toll from a powerful earthquake that struck near the Albanian capital of Tirana on early Tuesday has risen to 15, the Euronews Albania broadcaster reported.The authorities confirmed that more than 600 people had been injured in the earthquake. Rescue operations are underway.
The country's schools were closed, and President Ilir Meta visited the injured in the central hospital of Tirana, calling the situation dramatic.
According to local media, the residents of Tirana and the city of Durres, located near the epicenter of the earthquake, felt the strongest tremors.
The aftershocks will continue in the countries of the Balkan region for over a month, the Serbian seismology office told Sputnik.
"Serbian citizens felt tremors, as well in northern Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, because the earthquake was extremely strong, magnitude 6.4. This magnitude is catastrophic. The consequences at the epicenter are not so devastating because it was at sea," the office's seismologist on duty, Miodrag Petrovic, said.
The European Union has activated its civil protection mechanism in connection with the earthquake in Albania, the European Commission said, adding that search and rescue teams would be sent to the country.
"The European Union stands by Albania at this difficult time. Search and rescue teams from Italy, Greece and Romania are already on their way," EU Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides said in a statement.
The commissioner also thanked Hungary, Germany, Croatia, France, Estonia, the Czech Republic and Turkey for their offers to provide assistance through the European Civil Protection Mechanism.
The EU's Earth observation system Copernicus was used to obtain satellite images of the affected areas. The EU will deploy a civil protection group to help authorities coordinate measures and assess damage, the European Commission's press service noted.
