71 confirmed dead in northern Afghanistan quakes

"Our counting indicates that 71 people with majority of them women and children have lost their lives," said Burka district police commander Habib Rahman on Wednesday.

Dozens of people were buried in a landslide triggered by two quakes measuring 5.4 and 5.7 on the Richter scale in Baghlan province, 160 km north of the capital Kabul.

Rahman went on to say that rescue operations are still underway to find the bodies trapped under debris in Burka district.

Burka district, the worst-hit area in the province of Baghlan, is a remote collection of mountain villages.

Some local authorities believe the casualties may go higher.

Head of the National Disaster Management Agency Mohammad Daiem Kakar said the landslide had moved the entire village 20 to 30 meters down the mountainside.

"The chance for anyone to survive is very very slim or non-existent. The entire village has been relocated and brought down with earth down below the mountains," he said.

More than 2,000 people were killed in a quake in the same province in 2002.