At 16:53 in Haiti on Tuesday, 12 January 2010, a catastrophic earthquake of 7 Mw magnitude struck the nation. Its epicentre was near Léogâne, approximately 25 km west of the capital, Port-au-Prince.

At time of writing, 180,000 people have been confirmed dead. Reports claim 20,000 commercial buildings and 225,000 residences have collapsed or were severely damaged.

* Official death toll retrieved on 2 February 2010 from Wikipedia.com