<P> Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, and is ranked 149th of 182 countries on the Human Development Index . The Australian government's travel advisory site had previously expressed concerns that Haitian emergency services would be unable to cope in the event of a major disaster, and the country is considered "economically vulnerable" by the Food and Agriculture Organization . Haiti is no stranger to natural disasters . In addition to earthquakes, it has been struck frequently by tropical cyclones, which have caused flooding and widespread damage . The most recent cyclones to hit the island before the earthquake were Tropical Storm Fay and Hurricanes Gustav, Hanna and Ike, all in the summer of 2008, causing nearly 800 deaths . </P> <P> The magnitude 7.0 M earthquake occurred inland, on 12 January 2010 at 16: 53 (UTC - 05: 00), approximately 25 km (16 mi) WSW from Port - au - Prince at a depth of 13 km (8.1 mi) on blind thrust faults associated with the Enriquillo - Plantain Garden fault system . There is no evidence of surface rupture and based on seismological, geological and ground deformation data it is thought that the earthquake did not involve significant lateral slip on the main Enriquillo fault . Strong shaking associated with intensity IX on the Modified Mercalli scale (MM) was recorded in Port - au - Prince and its suburbs . It was also felt in several surrounding countries and regions, including Cuba (MM III in Guantánamo), Jamaica (MM II in Kingston), Venezuela (MM II in Caracas), Puerto Rico (MM II--III in San Juan), and the bordering Dominican Republic (MM III in Santo Domingo). According to estimates from the United States Geological Survey, approximately 3.5 million people lived in the area that experienced shaking intensity of MM VII to X, a range that can cause moderate to very heavy damage even to earthquake - resistant structures . Shaking damage was more severe than for other quakes of similar magnitude due to the shallow depth of the quake . </P> <P> The quake occurred in the vicinity of the northern boundary where the Caribbean tectonic plate shifts eastwards by about 20 mm (0.79 in) per year in relation to the North American plate . The strike - slip fault system in the region has two branches in Haiti, the Septentrional - Oriente fault in the north and the Enriquillo - Plantain Garden fault in the south; both its location and focal mechanism suggested that the January 2010 quake was caused by a rupture of the Enriquillo - Plantain Garden fault, which had been locked for 250 years, gathering stress . However, a study published in May 2010 suggested that the rupture process may have involved slip on multiple blind thrust faults with only minor, deep, lateral slip along or near the main Enriquillo--Plantain Garden fault zone, suggesting that the event only partially relieved centuries of accumulated left - lateral strain on a small part of the plate - boundary system . The rupture was roughly 65 km (40 mi) long with mean slip of 1.8 metres (5 ft 11 in). Preliminary analysis of the slip distribution found amplitudes of up to about 4 m (13 ft) using ground motion records from all over the world . </P> <P> A 2007 earthquake hazard study by C. DeMets and M. Wiggins - Grandison noted that the Enriquillo - Plantain Garden fault zone could be at the end of its seismic cycle and concluded that a worst - case forecast would involve a 7.2 M earthquake, similar in size to the 1692 Jamaica earthquake . Paul Mann and a group including the 2006 study team presented a hazard assessment of the Enriquillo - Plantain Garden fault system to the 18th Caribbean Geologic Conference in March 2008, noting the large strain; the team recommended "high priority" historical geologic rupture studies, as the fault was fully locked and had recorded few earthquakes in the preceding 40 years . An article published in Haiti's Le Matin newspaper in September 2008 cited comments by geologist Patrick Charles to the effect that there was a high risk of major seismic activity in Port - au - Prince . </P>

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