1.Earthquakes happen all the time. In fact, there are up to 9,000 earthquakes around the world every day. Fortunately, most of them are so small we don't even notice them. But at 4.53 on the evening of 12 January 2010, Haiti was struck by its biggest earthquake in 200 years. It happened about 10 kilometres below the earth's surface, not far from the capital city of Por-au-Prince. The earthquake lasted for only thirty-five seconds, but it destroyed many buildings in Port-au-Prince and killed more than 230,000 people
2. Every country in the world sits on top of a large sheet of rock. earthquakes are caused by the movement of these sheets of rock and are measured on the Richter Scale. Most earthquakes are just tremors which measure 3 or less on the Richter Scale. But each year there are about eighteen earthquakes which measure between 7 and 7.9. These are major earthquakes. The earthquake that destroyed Kobe measured 7.2 on the Richter Scale. The earthquake in Haiti measured 7 on the Richter Scale. Geologists knew that two sheets of rock met and formed a sixty-five kilometre fault line near Port-au-Prince. After the earthquake, they discovered that the two sheets of rock had moved nearly 2 metres in opposite directions against each other. 
3. The amount of damage caused by an earthquake depends on many things. A major earthquake can cause very little damage if it occurs far away from towns and cities. In Haiti there were many buildings in a small space. Many of the buildings were old or vary badly built. They collapsed during the earthquake and 1.5 million people were left without homes. It is a frightening reminder of how much damage earthquakes can cause.