Posted on: Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Timeline of Haiti’s natural disasters
Associated Press
Some of the worst natural disasters to batter Haiti:
1770: Strong earthquake devastates Port-au-Prince in then French colony.
1842: Earthquake destroys Cap-Haitien and other cities in northern Haiti and Dominican Republic.
1935: Unnamed storm kills more than 2,000 in Haiti before moving on to Florida as hurricane, where 400 die.
1946: Magnitude-8.1 quake strikes Dominican Republic and Haiti, causing tsunami that kills 1,790 people.
1954: Hurricane Hazel kills hundreds in Haiti.
1963: Hurricane Flora leaves more than 6,000 dead in Haiti and Cuba.
1994: Hurricane Gordon blamed for hundreds of deaths in Haiti.
1998: Hurricane Georges destroys 80 percent of Haiti’s crops while killing more than 400.
May 2004: Three days of heavy rains cause floods that kill more than 2,600.
September 2004: Tropical Storm Jeanne causes flooding and landslides that kill 1,900 and leave 200,000 homeless in Gonaives, Haiti’s third-largest city.
October 2007: Tropical Storm Noel triggers mudslides and floods, killing at least 57 Haitians.
August and September 2008: Three hurricanes and tropical storm kill some 800 in Haiti, devastate crops and cause $1 billion in damage.
Jan. 12, 2010: Magnitude-7.0 quake levels buildings in Port-Au-Prince, raising fears of tens of thousands of deaths.
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Sources: Associated Press archives, U.S. Geological Survey.
