7. 0 magnitude earthquake strikes off Haitian coast Tuesday, January 12, 2010 A 7. 0 magnitude earthquake has struck off the coast of Haiti earlier today at 21:53 UTC, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). According to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, no tsunami warning was issued, contradicting some media reports that said there was one in place. The quakes magnitude was revised down from an initial report of 7. 3 on the Richter scale. A destructive widespread tsunami threat does not exist based on historical earthquake and tsunami data, the US Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said. However, there is the possibility of a local tsunami that could affect coasts located usually no more than a 100 km [60 miles] from the earthquake epicentre. The USGS reports that the epicentre was fifteen kilometres (ten miles) southwest of Port-au-Prince and 1,140 kilometers (708 miles) southeast of Miami, Florida, at a depth of ten kilometres. According to USGS analyst Dale Grant, this tremor was the largest quake recorded in this area; the last strong quake was in 1984, and had a magnitude of 6. 7, he noted. Everybody is just totally, totally freaked out and shaken. The sky is just gray with dust, said Henry Bahn, an official with the US Department of Agriculture who was visiting in Haiti and a witness to the incident. I just held on and bounced across the wall. I just hear a tremendous amount of noise and shouting