Sixty-five people are still missing since a landslide buried the living quarters of a mining company in northwest China's Shaanxi Province early Wednesday, local authorities confirmed on Thursday.

More than 15 dorms and three houses were buried at Wuzhou mining company in the mountainous county of Shanyang just after midnight on Wednesday.

As of Thursday morning, ten people had managed to escape by themselves and four others were dug out by rescuers and taken to hospital. All four are stable.

More than 700 police, firefighters, mining rescuers and paramedics are in attendance. Nearby residents have been evacuated.

The geological situation around the site of the tragedy remains unstable with the prospect of further landslides.

There are a number of vanadium mines in the area and residents have often voiced concern about the effect of mining on the environment.