Tirana, Albania - An earthquake jolted northeastern Albania Sunday night, causing no loss of life but damaging and destroying hundreds of homes, local media said Monday.

The epicentre of the quake was Gjorice, near Albania's border with Macedonia and some 100 kilometres east of Tirana. The earthquake had a magnitude 5.4 on the Richter scale.

It hit an hour before midnight and was followed by a series of smaller tremors, the Seismology Institute of Albania said.

Local reports say six houses collapsed and some 1,000 were damaged. (dpa)