The earthquake was caused by the north american plate sliding past the Caribbean plate at a conservative plate margin. Both plates move in the sam direction, but one moves faster than the other. The pressure that was built up because of the friction between the 2 plates was eventually released causing a magnitude 7 earthquake on he Richter Scale with an epicentre 16 miles West of Port-au-Prince an a shallow focus of 5 miles. The earthquake struck at 16:53 (3:53pm) local time on Tuesday 12 Jaunary 2010.
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