Major magnitude 7.0 earthquake - 10 km southeast of Leogane, Leyogàn, Département de l'Ouest, Haiti, on Tuesday, January 12, 2010 at 21:53 GMT

The catastrophic magnitude 7.0 earthquake that struck Haiti at 16:53 local time (21:53 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010, was one of the deadliest in history, with conservative estimates of fatalities ranging from 100,000-160,000, while the Haitian government indicated figures from 220,000-316,000.
In terms of fatalities, it was only surpassed by a devastating quake in China in 1556, which is believed to have killed about 830,000.

The epicenter of the earthquake was near the town of Léogâne, Ouest department, approximately 25 km (16 mi) west of the capital Port-au-Prince.
The quake affected about 3 million people, damaged or destroyed an estimated 250,000 houses and 30,000 commercial buildings. It severely affected the country's economy already in great difficulty, and which has not fully recovered during the years after the quake.

Date & time: Jan 12, 2010 21:53:10 UTC
Magnitude: 7
Depth: 13.0 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 18.443°N / 72.571°W (Leyogàn, Département de l'Ouest, Haiti)
Antipode: 18.443°S / 107.429°E
Nearest volcano: Morne la Vigie (48 km / 30 mi)
Nearby towns and cities:
10 km (6 mi) SE of Leogane (Ouest) (pop: 134,200) --> See nearby quakes!
12 km (7 mi) SSW of Gressier (Ouest) (pop: 25,900) --> See nearby quakes!
21 km (13 mi) E of Grande Goave (Ouest) (pop: 49,300) --> See nearby quakes!
24 km (15 mi) N of Jacmel (Sud-Est) (pop: 138,000) --> See nearby quakes!
27 km (17 mi) WSW of Port au Prince (Ouest) (pop: 1,234,700) --> See nearby quakes!
30 km (19 mi) WSW of Delmas 73 (Ouest) (pop: 382,900) --> See nearby quakes!
31 km (19 mi) E of Petit-Goave (Ouest) (pop: 117,500) --> See nearby quakes!
31 km (19 mi) WSW of Pétionville (Ouest) (pop: 283,100) --> See nearby quakes!
39 km (24 mi) WSW of Croix-des-Bouquets (Ouest) (pop: 229,100) --> See nearby quakes!
Primary data source: USGS (United States Geological Survey)
Estimated released energy: 2 x 10¹⁵ joules (554 gigawatt hours, equivalent to 4.8 x 10⁵ tons of TNT or 29.8 atomic bombs!) | about seismic energy

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Based on its magnitude, the fault that was active during the quake ruptured along a surface of approx. 1000 km² (=386 sqare miles) as a first-order estimate. The length of the rupture zone thus was probably around 55 km (34 mi).
Aftershocks typically occur during the weeks, months or even a year following the quake at or near the same fault, at distances of up to approx. two times the length of the rupture zone.
The often broadly linear arrangement of aftershock epicenters encompasses the rupture zone of the main shock (check on the map below to verify).

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