[8][9] The earthquake lasted at least 50 seconds and was felt in Albania's capital Tirana, and in places as far away as Bari, Taranto and Belgrade,[10] 370 kilometres (230 mi) northeast of the epicentre.

[8] Modelling using a combination of data from the global navigation satellite system (GNSS) and interferometric synthetic-aperture radar (InSAR) provides further constraints on the fault that moved during the earthquake.

[1] The mainshock was detected also via crowdsourcing by the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre, where seismologists observed a surge in the LastQuake app launches and lately collected up to 58,125 reports on the event from the earthquake eyewitnesses.

[17] The largest foreshock was the Mw 5.6 earthquake that occurred on 21 September 2019, with an epicenter approximately 20 km south of the mainshock, ENE of Durrës, which was at the time the most powerful in 30 years and damaged 500 houses.

[65] Subsequently, rescue crews with specialised equipment, sniffer dogs and emergency supplies came to Albania from neighbouring countries and other European nations to help in the search efforts and provide for those left homeless.

[14] Due to safety concerns and aftershocks, some people were not allowed to reenter their own homes[71] and became dependent on food donations[14] until engineers checked buildings.

[59] Albanian President Ilir Meta, Prime Minister Rama and opposition leader Lulzim Basha visited the earthquake epicentre to see firsthand the situation and damage.

[11][79][61] Earthquake damage is being checked by civil engineers from the European Union, United States and local experts to assess whether buildings are structurally sound, unsafe and required demolition or just needed replastering.

[11][80][81] The Prosecutor's office ordered on 3 December that it needed lists of damaged buildings from police and municipal authorities before permission was granted for demolition, due to pending investigations.

[83] A fortnight after the event, some rural earthquake victims in the impact zone stated that government aid was either inadequate to non-existent and that they were still living in a dire situation.

[92] In Albania, volunteers, along with some small organisations established drop off points for donations of food, clothing, blankets and hygiene products at prominent landmarks throughout Tirana and used social media to mobilise people to provide assistance.

[95] The Muslim Community of Albania organised nationwide fundraising for monetary, food and material supplies and opened its mosques and madrasas as a place of shelter for earthquake victims.

[72] Rama stated that the draft budget of 2020 would provide funds for the construction of homes and cost some 7 billion leke ($63.10 million) or 0.4% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

[80] The exact final amount is unknown and apart from the aim of getting displaced people into homes, Rama wants reconstruction to expand economic growth, jobs and consumption.

[80] Rama has called for additional expert assistance and monetary aid geared toward recovery from the international community, stating that Albania lacks the capacity "to do this [reconstruction] alone.

[85] In Albania, a large proportion of the earthquake damage has been blamed on corruption, violations of the building code and substandard construction following the demise of communism during the early 1990s.

[11][79][7] The Albanian state has drafted a law in the aftermath of the earthquake that would see investors, supervisors and architects go to prison for a period of 7–15 years if proper construction practices are violated.

[2][106] In mid-December, Prime Minister Rama was criticised by NGOs, human rights organisations and parts of the media of misusing the situation to pass controversial legislation after he sought a three-month extension for his state of emergency powers from parliament.

[108][71] In Pristina, volunteers established a drop-off point in the central square for donations of supplies, and several truckloads were sent to displaced people affected by the earthquake.

[111][112][113][114][115][100][116][71] The Islamic Community of Kosovo organised a fundraising effort on 29 November after Friday prayers across all its mosques within the country and sent several convoys of aid to earthquake victims.

[122] On 29 November, outgoing Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj and his successor Albin Kurti visited Durrës to survey the damage and expressed Kosovan commitment to relief efforts and the need for institutional cooperation between both countries.

[125] Parliamentary speaker Talat Xhaferi, Deputy Prime Minister Bujar Osmani and leader of DUI Ali Ahmeti were part of a delegation of Albanian politicians from North Macedonia visiting the earthquake epicentre that expressed their condolences to President Meta.

[127] The mayor of Čair, Visar Ganiu visited the earthquake epicentre and brought fans known as "Shvercerat" from the football club FK Shkupi to volunteer assistance.

[92] A blood donation effort for earthquake victims was organised by the Bosniak Youth Forum of Montenegro, with hundreds of Albanians from Ulcinj partaking in the initiative.

[94][132] Globally, the Albanian diaspora expressed its solidarity[90] and held multiple fundraisers to send money to Albania and assist people impacted by the earthquake.

[133][131][59] Global celebrities of Albanian descent such as Bebe Rexha, Rita Ora, and Dua Lipa pledged support, sent donations, and made visits to the country's most quake-ravaged regions in hopes to rebuild some of the affected areas' infrastructure.

[93][14][94] Money from the Albanian diaspora continued to arrive in Albania and Prime Minister Rama tasked a group of fundraisers, that included a Muslim imam experienced in housing the needy, to combine the donations and maintain oversight of their usage.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan expressed his condolences, called for aid from other Muslim countries and stated he will lobby them to provide assistance to Albania for future reconstruction.

[152][153] Prime Minister Rama contacted President Erdoğan and asked for the creation of an international donors' conference, with one involving western countries and the other with states from the east.

[81] In Istanbul, Turkey held a donor's conference (8 December) for Albania that was organised and attended by President Erdoğan and included Turkish businessmen, investors and Prime Minister Rama.