At least six people have died and 300 people have been injured after the most powerful earthquake to hit Albania in decades rocked the capital, Tirana, and the surrounding region, causing several buildings to collapse and burying residents in the rubble.

Axar.az reports citing the Guardian that The 6.4-magnitude quake struck shortly before 4 am local time (0300 GMT) on Tuesday, the US Geological Survey said, the second powerful tremor to hit the region in two months. It was centred 19 miles west of Tirana, at a shallow depth of six miles. Scores of aftershocks included three with preliminary magnitudes of between 5.1 and 5.4.

Albanian President Ilir Meta said the situation in the town of Thumane, closest to the epicenter, was very dramatic. “All efforts are being made to take the people out of the ruins,” he said and called on the cabinet to request international assistance.

All government agencies are on alert and “intensively working to save lives at the fatal spots in Durres and Thumane,” Prime Minister Edi Rama said. “It is a dramatic moment where we should preserve calm, stay alongside each other to cope with this shock,” he wrote on his Facebook page.