"We have victims," Prime Minister Edi Rama wrote on Twitter. "We are working to do everything possible in the affected areas."

The quake struck at 3:54 am local time (0254 GMT) and sent panicked residents running out onto the streets of Tirana, with people huddling in the open, an AFP correspondent said.

The worst damage appeared to be around the coastal town of Durres. The quake was the strongest to hit this region since 1926, Albanian seismologist Rrapo Ormeni told local television.

Three bodies were pulled from the ruins of damaged buildings in the port town, where a three-story hotel collapsed and other buildings were damaged, according to the defence ministry.

The bodies of a man and a woman were uncovered in rubble in the nearby town of Thumane, the ministry said.

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

At least 150 people with injuries have sought first aid in Tirana and Durres, Health Minister Ogerta Manasterliu said.

Trapped under rubble

In Thumane, soldiers, rescuers and families were sifting through the rubble of a collapsed five-storey building as cries of people trapped under debris were heard, an AFP reporter said.

Thoma Nika, a 58-year-old who lived in the building, said there were at least six people under rubble.

Another man, Arben Allushi said with tears in his eyes, that his wife and niece missing after the building collapsed.

A man in Durres told local television that his daughter and niece were trapped in the rubble of a collapsed apartment building.

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

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