Foreign minister Luigi Di Maio on Tuesday tweeted Italy's solidarity with Albania after a 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck northwest of the capital, Tirana, killing at least 18 people and injuring over 600.
"Our thoughts are with the government and our friends the Albanian people at this awful time. Our solidarity with the families of the victims, the injured and the many people affected by the quake," read the tweet.
Italian rescuers were despatched to the coastal city of Durres, which is close to the epicentre and where most of the fatalities occurred, the foreign ministry said in a separate tweet.
