January 18, 2014 - 4:00 AM
OTTAWA - Four years after an earthquake devastated Haiti, the federal government wants to know how a handful of its embassies would hold up to similar tremors.
The Department of Foreign Affairs served notice last week that it will be looking for contractors to determine whether six of its consulates in Asia are structurally sound and quake-proof.
Contract documents say the work is part of a larger exercise that identified dozens of embassies and consulates that were at risk.
The department will be looking for consultants to assess the embassies and consulates in the Chinese capital Beijing, Wellington and Auckland in New Zealand, Jakarta in Indonesia, Hanoi in Vietnam and the Mongolian capital of Ulaan Batar.
In January 2010, thousands of people died after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck Haiti.
Canada's embassy in the capital of Port-au-Prince sustained damage but remained functional in the aftermath of the quake.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2014