Afghanistan struck by earthquake week after deadly quake killed thousands

The earthquake, recorded as 6.3, struck on Sunday, a week after a one of the strongest quakes to hit the region killed thousands last weekend

At least four people have died and more than 150 injured after a powerful 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck western Afghanistan just over a week after strong quakes and aftershocks killed thousands of people and flattened entire villages.

The latest quake's epicentre was about 34 kilometres outside Herat, the provincial capital, and eight kilometers deep, according to the US Geological Survey.

Aid group Doctors Without Borders said two people were reported dead while Herat Regional Hospital received over 100 people injured in Sunday's temour.

A Herta city resident, Sayed Kazim Rafiqi, 42, said he had never seen such devastation before with the majority of houses damaged and "people terrified."

The earthquakes on October 7 flattened villages in the province in what was one of the most destructive quakes in Afghanistan’s recent history.

Taliban officials said more than 2,000 people were killed across the province, with more than 90% of the victims women and children, according to the UN. Every home in the epicentre in Zenda Jan district was flattered, the UN said.

A 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 other village facilities also collapsed.

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