Powerful earthquake shakes west Afghanistan week after devastating quakes kill thousands

A powerful 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck western Afghanistan on Sunday, just over a week after strong quakes and aftershocks killed thousands of people and flattened entire villages in same region.

U.S. Geological Survey said latest quake’s epicenter was about 34 kilometers (21 miles) outside Herat, provincial capital, and eight kilometers (five miles) below surface.

re were no immediate official reports of possible casualties or damage.

earthquakes on Oct. 7 flattened whole villages in Herat, in one of most destructive quakes in country’s recent history.

More than 90% of people killed a week ago were women and children, U.N. officials reported Thursday.

Taliban officials said earlier quakes killed more than 2,000 people across province. epicenter was in Zenda Jan district, where 1,294 people died, 1,688 were injured and every home was destroyed, according to U.N. figures.

initial quake, numerous aftershocks and a second 6.3 magnitude quake on Wednesday flattened villages, destroying hundreds of mud-brick homes that could not withstand such force. Schools, health clinics and or village facilities also collapsed.

Besides rubble and funerals after that devastation, re was little left of villages in region's dusty hills. Survivors are struggling to come to terms with loss of multiple family members and in many places, living residents are outnumbered by volunteers who came to search debris and dig mass graves.