Two Albanian journalists were taken into custody early Monday for an alleged hoax in "publishing the fake news, and causing panic among the citizens” about seismic activity, according to police, VOA reports.

Albanian reporters Aurel Rakipllari of Syri.net and Daniela Grica of Gazeta Shekulli were questioned in relation to false warnings that a magnitude-6 aftershock was predicted to shake the nation's capital near midnight on Sunday, authorities said.

The headline on the original story called for people to leave their homes as soon as possible, triggering a massive panic as residents took to the darkened streets of a city already beset by Saturday's magnitude-5.8 quake that damaged nearly 1.000 buildings and injured at least 105.

Fearing another massive quake, many parked their cars along the highway to bed down for the night, while others went to a soccer stadium with small suitcases or sat outside cafes for a late-night coffee.

Shortly after the panic started, authorities called for calm, saying the reports were fake.

Albanian Defense Minister Olta Xhaçka appeared in a press conference with a local seismology expert warning that "anyone who has spread this fake news has committed a serious criminal offense which is punishable by the criminal code."

"We will not leave any stone unturned until we find out the author of this news, who is going to pay with jail," he said.

Police set up a special investigative group to reveal the source of the hoax, which they called a "malicious" act that deliberately aimed to "create fear and panic among citizens."

On Facebook, Prime Minister Edi Rama said that "any news spread to sow panic about an upcoming earthquake … should be rejected by the logic and punished by the law."

Syri.net, a firebrand opposition media outlet that published the misleading report, said the arrest of its journalist is a political act, aimed at restricting the press.

Critics of Syri.net, however, say the news organization deliberately published false information to make Rama's government look ill-prepared and disorganized in the wake of an actual disaster.