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Play Video With communications disrupted there were no reports of deaths or injuries soon after the quake, as powerful aftershocks shook the country.
The earthquake had a preliminary magnitude of 7.0 and was centered about 10 miles (15 kilometers) west of the capital of Port-au-Prince, the U.S. Geological Survey said. It had a depth of 5 miles (8 kilometers). It was the largest quake recorded in the area, said USGS analyst Dale Grant, and the last major one since a magnitude-6.7 temblor in 1984.
An Associated Press videographer saw the wrecked hospital in Petionville, a hillside Port-au-Prince district that is home to many diplomats and wealthy Haitians. Elsewhere, a U.S. government official reported seeing houses that had tumbled into a ravine.
Haiti's ambassador to the U.S., Raymond Joseph, said from his Washington office that he spoke to President Rene Preval's chief of staff, Fritz Longchamp, just after the quake hit. He said Longchamp told him that "buildings were crumbling right and left" near the national palace. He said he has not gotten through by phone to Haiti since.
Don Blakeman, an analyst at the USGS in Golden, Colorado, said such a strong quake carried the potential for widespread damage.
"I think we are going to see substantial damage and casualties," he said.
The quake was felt in the Dominican Republic, which shares a border with Haiti on the island of Hispaniola. Some panicked residents in the capital of Santo Domingo fled from their shaking homes.
In eastern Cuba, houses shook but no major damage was immediately reported.
"We felt it very strongly and I would say for a long time. We had time to evacuate," said Monsignor Dionisio Garcia, archbishop of Santiago.
In Haiti, the extent of the damage was unclear.
"Everybody is just totally, totally freaked out and shaken," said Henry Bahn, a U.S. Department of Agriculture official visiting Haiti. "The sky is just gray with dust."
Bahn said he was walking to his hotel room when the ground began to shake.
"I just held on and bounced across the wall," he said. "I just hear a tremendous amount of noise and shouting and screaming in the distance."
Bahn said there were rocks strewn about and he saw a ravine where several homes had stood: "It's just full of collapsed walls and rubble and barbed wire."
The U.S. National Weather Service issued a tsunami watch for Haiti, the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas, but said historically the region has seen few destructive tsunamis.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid said U.S. officials were holding emergency meetings.
"We need to gather what information we can quickly. We will of course assist in any way we can," he said.
Felix Augustin, Haiti's consul general in New York, said he was concerned about everyone in Haiti, including his relatives.
"Communication is absolutely impossible," he said. "I've been trying to call my ministry and I cannot get through. ... It's mind-boggling."
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Associated Press writers David Koop in Mexico City, Matthew Lee in Washington and Andrea Rodriguez in Havana contributed to this report.
A local member of the UN staff in Port au Prince said: "The headquarters of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti has been destroyed in large part. There are numerous people underneath the rubble, both dead and injured."
A tsunami alert for the Caribbean region was issued immediately after the earthquake struck at 9.53pm GMT. Minutes after the initial tremor, there were two aftershocks, measuring 5.9 and 5.5.
“I think it’s really a catastrophe of major proportions,” said Raymond Joseph, Haitian Ambassador to the United States. The US Geological Survey said that the epicentre of the earthquake was 16km (10 miles) from Port-au-Prince, which has a population of 2.5 million.
Joseph Delva, a reporter in Pétionville, an affluent suburb, said that one three-storey building was toppled and a tractor was at the scene trying to dig out victims.
“Everything started shaking, people were screaming, houses started collapsing . . . it’s total chaos,” he said.
In New York, UN chief Ban Ki-moon spoke of his concern for the local UN mission, which has been in Haiti since 2004.
"My heart goes out to the people of Haiti after this devastating earthquake," said Mr Ban. "At this time of tragedy, I am very concerned for the people of Haiti and also for the many United Nations staff who serve there."
Tom Jordan, an earthquake expert at the University of Southern California, said that the earthquake’s size and proximity to the capital had probably caused widespread casualties. “It’s going to be a real killer,” he said.
Henry Bahn, a US Department of Agriculture official visiting Port-au-Prince, said that he was walking to his hotel room when the ground began to shake.
“I just held on and bounced across the wall,” he said. “I just heard a tremendous amount of noise and shouting and screaming in the distance. The sky is just grey with dust.”
Mr Bahn said there were rocks strewn about and he saw a ravine where several homes had stood: “It’s just full of collapsed walls and rubble and barbed wire.”
In Thomassin, just outside Port-au-Prince, Alain Denis said that neighbours had told him that the only road to the capital had been cut and that the phones were all dead.
President Obama said the United States stood ready to help.
“My thoughts and prayers go out to those who have been affected by this earthquake,” he said. “We are closely monitoring the situation and we stand ready to assist the people of Haiti.”
At least 50,000 buildings destroyed and 100,000 deaths in Haiti quake
• Tens of thousands lose
homes in 7.0 magnitude quake
and at least 100,000
possible deaths
• UN headquarters and
hospitals collapse at least
50,000 structures destroyed
all communications are
off-line
- Wednesday 13 January 2010 11.40 GMT
A 7.0 magnitude quake – the biggest recorded in this part of the Caribbean and the largest to hit Haiti in more than 200 years – rocked Port-au-Prince last night, destroying a hospital and sending houses tumbling into ravines.
"There must be at least 100,000 people dead and 50.000 buildings destroyed" Sara Fajardo, a spokeswoman for Catholic Relief Services, told the Los Angeles Times. International aid groups are planning a major disaster relief effort. The international Red Cross said up to 3 million people could be affected.
The headquarters of the UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti has collapsed and a large number of UN personnel are missing, according to Alain Le Roy, the head of UN peacekeeping. At least 11 peacekeepers were reportedly killed – eight from China and three from Jordan.
Le Roy told reporters that UN troops, mostly from Brazil, were trying to rescue people from the wreckage of the five-storey building but "as we speak no one has been rescued from this main headquarters".
Gareth Owen, emergencies director at Save the Children, which has about 60 staff in Haiti, said: "We are very concerned about the high likelihood of a significant loss of life because Port-au-Prince is a very densely populated city and the earthquake epicentre was very close to it."
No official estimate of the death toll has been possible but it is clear tens of thousands of people have had their homes destroyed in Port-au-Prince, which has a population of about 1 million, and that many people have perished.
The UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs said initial reports suggested "a high number of casualties and widespread damage, with an urgent need for search and rescue".
Dead and injured lay in the streets even as strong aftershocks rippled through the impoverished country. Women covered in dust crawled from the rubble wailing as others wandered through the streets holding hands. Thousands gathered in public squares late into the night singing hymns. There are very few emergency services to speak of and many gravely injured people were still sitting in the streets early this morning, pleading for doctors.
The airport is closed so supplies will probably have to be flown in to neighbouring countries – most likely to the Dominican Republic, which shares the same island.
"Everything started shaking, people were screaming, houses started collapsing, it's total chaos," said Joseph Guyler Delva, a Reuters reporter. "I saw people under the rubble and people killed. People were screaming 'Jesus, Jesus' and running in all directions."
With telephone services erratic, much of the early communication came from social media such as Twitter. Richard Morse, a well-known musician who manages the famed Olafson Hotel, kept up a stream of dispatches on the aftershocks and damage reports. Belair, a slum even in the best of times, was said to be "a broken mess".
Raymond Joseph, Haiti's ambassador to the US, told CNN from Washington: "I think it is really a catastrophe of major proportions."
The quake was shallow, with a depth of 6.2 miles, and struck at 4.53pm local time with the epicentre 10 miles south-west of Port-au-Prince, according to the US Geological Survey. It was said to have lasted around a minute and was quickly followed by two strong aftershocks of 5.9 and 5.5 magnitude. The last major quake to hit the capital was of magnitude 6.7 in 1984.
The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, said: "My heart goes out to the people of Haiti after this devastating earthquake. At this time of tragedy I am very concerned for the people of Haiti and also for the many United Nations staff who serve there. I am receiving initial reports and following developments closely."
The Pacific tsunami warning centre ruled out a major tsunami but said coasts up to 60 miles away might be affected, prompting alerts in neighbouring Dominican Republic, Cuba and the Bahamas.
Haiti, a former French colony that forms half of the island of Hispaniola, is especially vulnerable to natural disasters. Most of the capital's 3 million people live in hillside slums made of wood, tin and cheap concrete.
"Everybody is just totally, totally freaked out and shaken," said Henry Bahn, a US agriculture official visiting Haiti. "The sky is just grey with dust." He was walking to his hotel room when the ground began to shake. "I just held on and bounced across the wall. I just heard a tremendous amount of noise and shouting and screaming in the distance."
A local employee for the US charity Food for the Poor reported seeing a five-storey building collapse in Port-au-Prince. A colleague said there were more houses destroyed than standing in Delmas Road, a major thoroughfare. Taiwan's foreign ministry said its embassy was destroyed and the ambassador was in hospital with injuries.
The quake crumbled Haiti's presidential residence, the National Palace, but Haiti's ambassador to Mexico, Robert Manuel, said the president, Rene Preval, and his wife had survived. He had no details. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said the quake seriously damaged its 60-bed trauma centre hospital, one of the only free-of-charge surgical facilities in Port-au-Prince.
Another hospital, in Petionville, a wealthy neighbourhood home to diplomats and expatriates, was wrecked..
The US president, Barack Obama, issued a statement sending his "thoughts and prayers". "We are closely monitoring the situation and we stand ready to assist the people of Haiti."
Bill Clinton, the UN's special envoy for Haiti, said his office would do whatever it could to help the country recover and rebuild. "My thoughts and prayers are with the people of Haiti."
The quake was felt in the Dominican Republic, sending people running on to the streets in the capital, Santo Domingo. Houses shook in eastern Cuba but no major damage was reported.
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A spokesman for the American Red Cross says the aid organization has run out of medical supplies in Haiti.
Red Cross spokesman Eric Porterfield said Wednesday that the small amount of medical equipment and medical supplies that were available in Haiti has been distributed.
The Red Cross is sending more medical supplies to Haiti, but Porterfield says he does not know when they will arrive.
Porterfield says he doesn't know if the depletion of medical supplies is preventing victims in critical condition from being treated.
A devastating earthquake struck the Caribbean nation on Tuesday.