Survivors of a strong quake in a remote corner of eastern Afghanistan say they spent a freezing night in the rain outside the collapsed remains of their homes because promised government help did not reach them.

Two strong quakes shook an area several dozen kilometres west of the city of Jalalabad on Thursday night, killing at least 19 and injuring dozens more. The local government said it had sent over 200 tents and around 600 blankets to the quake zone, and other assistance was on its way. But residents said they had seen no sign of the help, and spent a frightening night outside, with seven or eight aftershocks.

"There are hundreds of families who spent the night outside and it was very cold and raining, our children have become sick, and we haven't received any assistance from the government or others so far," said Del Agha who had lost two children.

The US Geological Survey said a 5.5 magnitude quake hit the area just before 10.30 p.m. (Malta time) on Thursday, followed by a 5.1 magnitude aftershock two hours later that tumbled some buildings that survived the first shock.

Villagers were still digging through the remains of their houses by hand today, though mostly looking for livestock.

By midday a Reuters witness said there was no sign of first aid or other help arriving in the village of Mir Gadkhel.

The official death toll from the government in Kabul was 19. But Mohammad Tahir Zahir, deputy head of the provincial council of Nangarhar province, said he had attended funerals for, or been personally informed about, at least 40 deaths.

There were 71 wounded survivors, 34 of them in critical condition, he added.

The villages are located between Jalalabad and the capital Kabul, in Nangarhar, a province that sees sporadic attacks by Taliban insurgents. But there were no reports by Saturday of security incidents near the quake zone.