Images after Haiti earthquake show debris 0:47
(CNN) -
A strong 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti on August 14.
Massive casualties and widespread devastation are expected, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
It is the most recent blow to the country, which has not yet fully recovered from the 2010 earthquake and is in the midst of political instability following the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse during an attack on his private residence in July.
Earthquake in Haiti: follow here minute by minute the latest news
Here are some facts you should know about Haiti.
About Haiti
(from the CIA World Factbook)
Area:
27,750 square kilometers (slightly smaller than Maryland)
Population:
11,198,240 (July 2021 est.)
Average age:
24.1 years
Capital:
Port au Prince
Ethnic groups:
black 95%, mixed race and white 5%
Religion:
Roman Catholic 54.7%, Protestant 28.5% (Baptist 15.4%, Pentecostal 7.9%, Adventist 3%, Methodist 1.5%, other 0.7%), Voodoo 2.1%, another 4.6%
Unemployment:
40.6% (2010 est.)
Images after Haiti earthquake show debris 0:47
Chronology
1492 -
Christopher Columbus lands on the island and names it Hispaniola.
1697 -
Spain recognizes the right of France to the western third of the island.
1791 -
Slaves rebel against plantation owners.
Toussaint L'Ouverture, a former slave, takes control and writes a constitution.
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January 1, 1804 -
Haiti becomes independent from France.
Haiti is the second oldest independent nation in the Western Hemisphere after the United States.
1804-1915 -
More than 70 different dictators rule Haiti.
1915 -
US President Woodrow Wilson sends Marines to Haiti to restore order.
The United States occupies Haiti until 1934.
1946 -
The Army takes control of the government of Haiti.
1949 -
The Army retakes control of the government after riots break out.
1950 -
Army officer Paul Magloire is elected president.
1956 -
Magloire resigns after riots break out;
the Army retakes control of the government.
1957 -
Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier, a physician, is elected president.
1964 -
Duvalier declares himself president for life and rules as a dictator.
1971 -
Haiti amends its constitution to allow the president to choose his successor.
Duvalier chooses his son, Jean-Claude, who is 19 years old.
April 1971 -
After the death of his father, Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier is declared president for life.
He uses a secret police force called Tontons Macoutes (bogeymen) to enforce his policies.
1986 -
Duvalier flees the country after a riot.
Lieutenant General Henri Namphy leads the country and tries to get rid of the Tontons Macoutes, but fails.
March 1987 -
Haiti adopts a new constitution that requires elections for the national and presidential assembly by the people.
November 29, 1987 -
Elections are canceled after terrorist attacks on polling places.
They were rescheduled for January 1988, at which time the people elect a civilian president and a parliament.
June 1988 -
Namphy overthrows the new government and declares himself president of the military government.
September 1988 -
Agents of the Presidential Guard seize power from Namphy.
Lieutenant General Prosper Avril declares himself president.
March 1990 -
Avril resigns due to protests.
December 1990 -
Jean-Bertrand Aristide wins the first free elections in Haiti.
September 1991 -
Aristide flees the country after being overthrown in a military coup.
The Organization of American States (OAS) and the United Nations lead trade boycotts to force Aristide's return to power.
Many Haitians try to flee to the United States, but are forced to return to Haiti.
Later, the refugees are sent to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
July 3, 1993 -
The military government agrees to allow Aristide to return and reestablish his rule by October 30.
Subsequently, they withdraw from the agreement and do not allow Aristide to return.
September 17, 1994 -
US President Bill Clinton sends a delegation to Haiti in hopes of avoiding a military conflict.
The team includes former US President Jimmy Carter, Colin Powell and Senator Sam Nunn.
The peace agreement prevents fighting from breaking out.
September 18, 1994 - The
United States sends troops to Haiti to maintain order.
The first 3,000 soldiers disembark on September 19 in Port-au-Prince.
October 1994 -
Aristide returns to power.
US troops remain in Haiti to maintain order.
Boycotts by the United Nations and the OAS end and the refugees at Guantanamo Bay return to Haiti.
March 1995 -
Most of the US troops leave Haiti.
Late 1995 -
Rene Preval, a member of Aristide's Lavalas coalition, is elected president.
April 1996 -
The last American troops leave.
December 1998 -
UN peacekeepers retire.
November 2000 -
Aristide is elected president again;
most other parties boycott the elections, claiming they are fraudulent.
February 2004 -
Rebel and political opposition leaders oppose Aristide's leadership and methods and want him removed from power.
Aristide says he will remain in office until the last day of his term, February 7, 2006.
Is Haiti a Failed State?
Haitian Ambassador to the US Responds
February 8, 2004 -
Looting and violence spread throughout Haiti.
February 21, 2004 -
An international evaluation team made up of officials from the United States, France, Canada, the Caribbean Community, and the OAS arrives in Haiti to present a peace plan to Aristide.
He accepts the terms of the plan, which include the appointment of a new prime minister, the establishment of a bipartisan cabinet, the holding of new elections to be monitored by international observers and the disarmament of the militias, stationed in much of the north.
Opposition leaders announce the rejection of any plan that does not include the immediate resignation of Aristide.
February 25, 2004 -
US President George W. Bush declares that Haitians who attempt to enter the United States will be turned away by the Coast Guard.
February 29, 2004 -
President Aristide leaves for the Central African Republic.
The president of the Supreme Court, Boniface Alexandre, replaces him as president of the nation in a transitional government, as mandated by the Haitian constitution.
March 2004 -
US and French troops are deployed as part of a multinational peacekeeping force.
March 2, 2004 -
Haitian rebel leader Guy Philippe declares himself the country's new chief of police and calls for the reestablishment of the Haitian Army, which Aristide dissolved in 1991. The United States does not recognize Philippe as the chief of the Haitian police.
March 9, 2004 -
Gerard Latortue, a 69-year-old international business consultant, is named Haiti's new prime minister by the US-backed Council of Wise Men.
April 2004 -
The UN Secretary General recommends the creation of a multidimensional stabilization operation to help with the situation in Haiti.
The operation is called the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti.
June 2004 -
A multinational force led by the United States cedes authority in Port-au-Prince to the UN peacekeepers.
February 7, 2006 -
After scheduling delays and accusations of electoral fraud, Rene Preval is elected President of Haiti.
February 2007 -
Preval causes UN peacekeepers in Haiti to launch an offensive against street gangs in Port-au-Prince.
January 12, 2010 -
A magnitude 7 earthquake strikes 14 miles west of Haiti, destroying most of Port-au-Prince.
The earthquake kills some 217,000 people and leaves more than two million homeless.
October 2010 -
Cholera breaks out in Haiti and more than 6,600 die in one year.
As of February 2016, Haiti had reported 771,000 cholera cases and 9,082 deaths due to the 2010 outbreak.
November 28, 2010 -
Presidential elections are held.
In December, the electoral council announced that former first lady Mirlande Manigat won, but lacks the majority of votes necessary for an outright victory.
The second round is scheduled for March 20, 2011.
January 16, 2011 -
Former dictator "Baby Doc" Duvalier unexpectedly returns to Haiti after nearly 25 years in exile.
April 4, 2011 -
Preliminary results of the second round of the presidential elections show musician Michel "Sweet Micky" Martelly with 67.6% of the votes compared to 31.5% for former Haitian First Lady Manigat .
April 20, 2011 -
Martelly is officially declared president of Haiti by the country's electoral council.
May 14, 2011 -
Martelly is sworn in as President of Haiti.
June 8, 2011 -
Heavy rains in Haiti lead to an increase in reported cholera cases.
Is Haiti a Failed State?
Haitian Ambassador to the US Responds
July 2011 -
According to a report by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, UN peacekeepers from Nepal likely caused the October 2010 cholera epidemic.
October 2011 -
A CDC report details improvements in sanitation and education that reduced the cholera death rate in Haiti from 4% to less than 1%.
Since December 2010, fewer people have died from the disease despite an increase in the number of reported cases.
November 8, 2011 -
Haitian cholera victims have petitioned the United Nations demanding compensation for their suffering, the victims' lawyers announced.
Haitians who got sick demand US $ 50,000 each;
the families of those who died are seeking $ 100,000.
April 14, 2012 -
The Haitian government and the World Health Organization launch a cholera vaccination program targeting 100,000 people.
October 2012 -
Dozens of people are killed in floods and landslides due to Hurricane Sandy.
December 2014 -
After days of anti-government protests in Haiti, Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe announces his resignation.
January 9, 2015 -
A United States federal judge in Manhattan rules that Haitian victims of the 2010 cholera outbreak cannot sue the United Nations as they have legal immunity.
January 16, 2015 -
Former Port-au-Prince Mayor Evans Paul is sworn in as Prime Minister.
February 7, 2016 -
After five years in office, President Martelly resigns, leaving Haiti without a successor after elections were postponed marred by allegations of fraud.
Under the terms of an agreement for a transitional government, the Haitian Parliament would elect an interim president for a period of 120 days and confirm a consensual prime minister.
February 14, 2016 -
The Haitian Parliament elects a new interim president, former Head of Parliament Jocelerme Privert.
August 18, 2016 -
For the first time, the United Nations acknowledges its own role in the 2010 cholera outbreak in Haiti.
November 20, 2016 -
A presidential election is held with 27 candidates competing.
January 3, 2017 -
Jovenel Moïse is officially declared the new president of Haiti.
The following month, he appointed Jack Guy Lafontant as Prime Minister.
July 14, 2018 -
Lafontant resigns amid violent protests sparked by a proposed plan to increase fuel prices.
August 5, 2018 -
President Moïse announces that Jean-Henry Céant will be the new Prime Minister of the nation.
Riots and violent protests sweep Haiti as President Jovenel Moïse says he still has a year left in power
March 18, 2019 -
The majority of the Haitian Chamber of Deputies votes to remove Prime Minister Céant, whose position has not yet been ratified by the national assembly.
The vote of no confidence follows recent protests over economic conditions.
Jean Michel Lapin is appointed interim prime minister three days later and is appointed prime minister in April.
June 11, 2019 -
The UK regulator for the British charity Oxfam publishes a report on Oxfam's handling of allegations of sexual misconduct in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake. The report finds the charity "missed opportunities "to address" cultural and behavioral problems "of the staff in Haiti at the time.
In its response statement, Oxfam says it accepts the commission's findings and "deeply regrets its failure to prevent sexual abuse by its former staff in Haiti."
Oxfam acknowledges sexual abuse by its staff after the earthquake in Haiti
July 22, 2019 -
Officials announce that Prime Minister Lapin, whose post has not yet been ratified by the National Assembly, resigned during ongoing anti-government protests.
On the same day, President Moïse nominates Fritz William Michel as the nation's prime minister.
This is the fourth such nomination since Moïse became head of state.
February 23, 2020 -
Haiti's biggest celebration of the year, Carnival, is canceled after deadly protests and gunfire disrupted the first day of festivities in Port-au-Prince.
July 7, 2021 -
The president, Jovenel Moïse, is assassinated during an attack on his private residence.
Colombian Ombudsman's Office requests legal assistance for 18 citizens detained in Haiti around the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse
August 14, 2021 -
A 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti.
Jovenel moise