Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere and has suffered a number of recent disasters, including four hurricanes and storms in 2008 that killed hundreds.
Economy: The economy is in ruins and unemployment is chronic
The Haiti's 7.0 earthquake, which struck about 15km south-west of Port-au-Prince, was quickly followed by two strong aftershocks of 5.9 and 5.5 magnitude.
The extent of the devastation is still unclear but there are fears thousands of people may have died. Up to three million people have been affected by the quake, one-third of the country's population.
The simplest concrete structures in the capital of Port-au-Prince have collapsed.
Phone lines to the country failed shortly afterwards.
The headquarters for the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Haiti collapsed.
General Hospital in Port-au-Prince is down, Haitian National Palace is damaged.
The earthquake also collapsed the main prison in Haiti's capital, with reports of escaped inmates.
"Crushed thousands of structures — from schools and shacks to the National Palace and the local U.N. headquarters."(NBC, msnbc.com and news services)
"I didn't see any emergency services, the people at the neighbourhood were trying to help each other.
The streets are narrow and there is lot of traffic and everyone is trying to reach family and friends. Traffic now is really difficult. People don't know where to go or where to start."(Carel Pedre, TV and radio presenter, Port-au-Prince)
"Doctors Without Borders said its three hospitals in Haiti were unusable and it was treating the injured at temporary shelters.
The reality of what we are seeing is severe traumas, head wounds, crushed limbs, severe problems that cannot be dealt with the level of medical care we currently have available with no infrastructure really to support it," said Paul McPhun, an operations manager for the charity.
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