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

The 6.4 magnitude quake struck at 3:54 a.m. local time (0254 GMT), with an epicenter 34 kilometers (about 20 miles) northwest of the capital Tirana in the Adriatic Sea, according to the European-Mediterranean Seismological Center.