Earthquake Dominican Republic, A powerful earthquake has hit before 5 p.m. Eastern time,  on Tuesday 12th January 2010, off the coast of Haiti, the Caribbean nation of 10 million rocked by political violence and poverty,The US Geological Survey (USGS) said on its website that a magnitude 7.0 quake struck about 10 miles from the nation’s capital Port-au-Prince,causing widespread damage and panic with the potential for a high number of casualties in the impoverished Caribbean country.

There were five aftershocks — the worst two were 5.9 and 5.2 magnitude — that followed in the last hour, and more were expected, according to David Wald, a seismologist with the survey.

The US Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, according to its website, put a tsunami warning out for Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, and the Bahamas. The warning was not in effect for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.

President Barack Obama said his thoughts and prayers were with the people of Haiti, where a strong earthquake hit, the U.S. stood ready to help the island nation.

White House officials said Obama also had asked aides to make sure U.S. personnel at the embassy in Port-au-Prince were safe. There are fewer than 20 U.S. military personnel in Haiti, largely working with the embassy there.Officials also said Obama told them to start preparing in case humanitarian assistance was needed.