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The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake centred approximately 25 kilometres (16 mi) west of Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, striking at 16:53:10 local time (21:53:10 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010.[4] The earthquake occurred at a depth of 13 kilometres (8.1 mi). The United States Geological Survey recorded a series of at least 33 aftershocks, fourteen of them between magnitudes 5.0 and 5.9. Scientists predict these to continue for at least two weeks after the initial event.[5] The International Red Cross estimated that about three million people were affected by the quake,[6] and the Haitian Interior Minister believes that up to 200,000 have died as a result of the disaster,[7] exceeding earlier Red Cross estimates of 45,000–50,000.[2] A number of prominent public figures are among the dead.

The earthquake caused major damage to Port-au-Prince. Most major landmarks were significantly damaged or destroyed, including the Presidential Palace (President René Préval survived), the National Assembly building, the Port-au-Prince Cathedral, and the main jail.[8][9][10] To compound the tragedy, most hospitals in the area were destroyed.[11] The United Nations (UN) reported that the headquarters of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), located in the capital, had collapsed and that the Mission's Chief, Hédi Annabi, and his deputy were confirmed dead.[12][13] Elisabeth Byrs of the UN called it the worst disaster the United Nations has experienced because the organizational structures of the UN in Haiti and the Haitian government were destroyed.[14] Though relief supplies started arriving in the local airport soon after the disaster, slow distribution and the large number of affected people created concerns of civil unrest.

The island of Hispaniola, shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic, is seismically active and has experienced significantly destructive tremors in the past. An earthquake struck in 1751, and another in 1770 when the island was under French control. According to French historian Moreau de Saint-Méry (1750–1819), "only one masonry building had not collapsed" in Port-au-Prince following the 18 October 1751 earthquake, but "the whole city collapsed" during the earthquake of 3 June 1770. Another earthquake destroyed the city of Cap-Haïtien and other towns in the northern part of Haiti and the Dominican Republic on 7 May 1842.[16] In 1946, a magnitude-8.0 earthquake struck the Dominican Republic and also shook Haiti, producing a tsunami that killed 1,790 people and injured many others.[17]

A 2006 earthquake hazard study by C. DeMets and M. Wiggins-Grandison noted that the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault system could be at the end of its seismic cycle and forecast a worst-case scenario of a magnitude 7.2 earthquake, similar in size to the 1692 Jamaica earthquake.[18] 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 (overall equivalent to a 7.2 Mw earthquake); 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.[19] 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.[20]

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere,[21] ranked 149th of 182 countries on the Human Development Index.[22] The Australian government's travel advisory site expressed concerns that Haitian emergency services would be unable to cope in the event of a major disaster;[23] and the country is considered "economically vulnerable" by the Food and Agriculture Organization.[24] The country is no stranger to natural disasters: it has been struck by multiple hurricanes, causing flooding and widespread damage, most recently in 2008 from Tropical Storm Fay and Hurricane Gustav.