In photos: Rescue efforts wind down in quake-hit Afghanistan as villages bury dead

Rescue workers scrabbled through rubble on Tuesday for villagers buried in their homes by a series of earthquakes that killed more than 2,000 people in rural western Afghanistan, but hope of finding survivors was fading fast. Volunteers have worked non-stop with spades and pickaxes in Herat province since Saturday's deadly magnitude 6.3 quake struck - followed by a series of powerful aftershocks - but some were turning to digging graves instead.

Afghanistan is frequently hit by deadly earthquakes, but the weekend disaster is the worst to strike the impoverished country in more than 25 years. Strong tremors were still shaking the area on Monday. In nearby Siah Ab, a mass funeral ceremony was held Monday for more than 300 victims collected from nearby communities.

The United Nations says "100 percent" of homes were destroyed in 11 villages of rural Zenda Jan, a hard-to-reach district just 30 kilometres (19 miles) northwest of Herat city, the provincial capital.

More than 11,000 people had been affected from 1,655 families, the World Health Organization says. Trucks packed with food and blankets have arrived in the area, with blue tents popping up among the ruins of villages.

Most rural homes in Afghanistan are made of mud, built around wooden support poles, with little in the way of modern steel reinforcement. Multi-generational extended families generally live under the same roof, meaning disasters such as Saturday's quake can devastate local communities.

Afghanistan is already suffering a dire humanitarian crisis, with the widespread withdrawal of foreign aid following the Taliban's return to power.

Herat province - home to around 1.9 million people on the border with Iran - has also been hit by a years-long drought that has crippled many hardscrabble farm communities.

Afghanistan is frequently hit by earthquakes, especially in the Hindu Kush mountain range, which lies near the junction of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates. More than 1,000 people were killed and tens of thousands left homeless last June after a 5.9-magnitude quake struck the impoverished province of Paktika. More than 4,000 people died in a magnitude 6.5 quake that struck Takhar province in 1998.