 The 2010 Haiti earthquake ( French : <unk> de 2010 à <unk> ; Haitian Creole : <unk> 12 <unk> 2010 <unk> <unk> <unk> ) was a catastrophic magnitude 7 @.@ 0 Mw earthquake , with an epicenter near the town of <unk> ( <unk> ) , approximately 25 kilometres ( 16 mi ) west of Port @-@ au @-@ Prince , Haiti 's capital . The earthquake occurred at 16 : 53 local time ( 21 : 53 UTC ) on Tuesday , 12 January 2010 . 
