[ricki]

It sounds like a devastating earthquake with substantial damage around the Capital, Port-Au-Prince. Tsunami warnings were issued for that area of the Caribbean at 22:03 UTC but were canceled around 23:35 UTC. Information is still being developed.

The Tsunami Watch was for Haiti, DR, Bahamas and Cuba and been canceled, hopefully for good. It was a side slip quake as opposed to a "normal" or vertical displacement quake that is usually associated with tsunamis.

Understand there hasn't been much earthquake activity there in about 25 years from recent reports. We were in Cap Haitian in the mid '70's diving and drilling for evidence of the Santa Maria underwater. There was a problem figuring out just where sea level was five hundred years ago. There had been so much tectonic activity that they sea level may have changed on the order of ten feet in that time. Also, Cap Haitian, a good sized city, had been completely and partially buried by rock slides at different times related to separate severe earthquakes in that time.

If you are in the area I would monitor the situation and future warnings, if any. Hopefully there won't be any and efforts can be focused on aid and recovery in Haiti. Prayers go out to those dealing with this tragedy.