Canada ‘closely monitoring’ Afghanistan after quake reportedly kills more than 2,000

OTTAWA — Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs is offering support to people in Afghanistan after a devastating earthquake rocked the western part of the Asian country on Saturday.

Melanie Joly says on the X platform, formerly Twitter, that “Canada stands ready to support the Afghan people” following the 6.3-magnitude quake that struck near Herat, Afghanistan’s fourth-largest city.

An email from Global Affairs Canada says it is not aware of any Canadians who are missing or who were killed as a result of the earthquake.

Ahmed Hussen, Canada’s minister of international development, says Ottawa is closely monitoring the situation.

In a post to X, he calls news of the earthquake “heartbreaking” and he says Canada is thinking of victims’ families and loved ones as the details unravel.

A Taliban government spokesman says the quake has killed more than 2,000 people, but as of Sunday morning, that figure has not been independently verified.

— With files from The Associated Press

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 8, 2023.

The Canadian Press