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.

_ January 12, 2010: Magnitude-7.0 quake levels buildings in Port-Au-Prince, raising fears of tens of thousands of deaths.