On January 12 , 2010 , at 21:53 UTC , the island was struck by a magnitude-7 .0 earthquake , the country 's most severe earthquake in the past 200 years . On January 12 , 2010 , at 21:53 UTC , ( 4:53 pm local time ) Haiti was struck by a magnitude-7 .0 earthquake , the country 's most severe earthquake in over 200 years .