1842 Cap-Haïtien earthquake
The 1842 Cap-Haïtien earthquake occurred at 17:00 local time on 7 May. It had an estimated magnitude of 8.1 on the scale and triggered a destructive tsunami. It badly affected the northern coast of Haiti and part of what is now the Dominican Republic. Port-de-Paix suffered the greatest damage from both earthquake and tsunami. Approximately 5,000 people were killed by the effects of the earthquake shaking and another 300 by the tsunami.
Tectonic setting
The island of Hispaniola lies across the complex transform plate boundary between the North American plate and the Caribbean plate. The overall four cm per year displacement along this boundary is split nearly equally between two major dextral strike-slip zones either side of the Gonâve microplate. To the south is the Enriquillo–Plantain Garden fault zone, which extends from Jamaica in the west to the south-east of Hispaniola to the east. In the north the fault zone is the Septentrional-Oriente fault zone passing along the southern margin of Cuba and along the northern part of Hispaniola. Both of these fault zones have been associated with several major historical earthquakes.Earthquake
The earthquake was felt over a wide area, including southern Cuba, Jamaica, Puerto Rico and across the Antilles. The estimated intensity reached IXon the Mercalli intensity scale along the northern coast from Cap-Haïtien to Santiago de los Caballeros.
The earthquake appears to have been caused by movement on the Septentrional Fault, with the rupture extending from the Cibao valley in the present day Dominican Republic, along the whole of the northern coast of Haiti.
Tsunami
The tsunami affected the northern coast of Haiti and present-day Dominican Republic. The highest run-up of 4.6 m was observed at Port-de-Paix, with 2 m run-ups seen along much of the northern coast. At Saint John in the United States Virgin Islands, the run-up was 3.1 m.Damage
The region that suffered the greatest damage was the northern Cape area, although there was significant damage along the northern coast as far as Santiago de los Caballeros. The towns of Cap-Haïtien, Port-de-Paix, Môle-Saint-Nicolas and Fort-Liberté were also severely affected. Henri Christophe's Sans-Souci Palace was badly damaged and was never rebuilt.At Port-de-Paix, the sea drew back 60 m, before returning and flooding the city in 5 m of water, killing between 200-300 of the inhabitants. The effect of the tsunami at Môle-Saint-Nicolas was catastrophic, leaving almost none of the town standing.