The death toll from the powerful earthquake that struck northern Algeria late Wednesday has risen to 538, the Interior Ministry said Thursday.
More than 4,600 people were injured in the North African country's strongest quake in years, which hit the capital city and nearby towns.
The casualty figure is expected to rise further as rescue work is going on to reach more families trapped in ruined homes, the Interior Ministry was quoted as saying by the official news agency APS .
Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia said on the state radio: "Buildings have collapsed. Entire families are underneath." "It's a tragic moment...It's a misfortune that hits the whole of Algeria."
The quake, measuring 6.7 on the open-ended Richter scale, occurred at 7:44 p.m. local time (1844 GMT), with the epicenter being 70 kilometers east of Algiers.
Panicked residents poured out into the streets. The quake was felt in many places of the densely-populated north, where hundreds of aftershocks occurred in the first hours.
In Roubia, one of the worst hit towns, located 30 kilometers east of Algiers, at least 104 people died, the state radio reported hours earlier. Many buildings there were reduced to rubbles.
In Boumerdes, 10 kilometers from the epicenter near Thenia, there were residents jumping from windows for survival, reports quoted witnesses as saying.
The state radio has urged people to stay outdoors and away frombuildings.
In the capital city of Algiers, several buildings collapsed. Atleast 15 people were reported killed in the tremor. Some schools were opened to receive people choosing to stay outside their homes.
Interior Minister Nouredine Yazid Zerhouni traveled to Thenia and Boumerdes to inspect the situation there.
(Xinhua News Agency May 22, 2003)
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