 The island of Hispaniola , shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic , is <unk> active and has a history of destructive earthquakes . During Haiti 's time as a French colony , earthquakes were recorded by French historian Moreau de Saint @-@ <unk> ( <unk> – 1819 ) . He described damage done by an earthquake in 1751 , writing that " only one masonry building had not collapsed " in Port @-@ au @-@ Prince ; he also wrote that the " whole city collapsed " in the 1770 Port @-@ au @-@ Prince earthquake . Cap @-@ <unk> , other towns in the north of Haiti and the Dominican Republic , and the Sans @-@ <unk> Palace were destroyed during an earthquake on 7 May 1842 . A magnitude 8 @.@ 0 earthquake struck the Dominican Republic and shook Haiti on 4 August 1946 , producing a tsunami that killed 1 @,@ 790 people and injured many others . 
