The May 7, 1842 earthquake caused extensive damage all along northern Hispaniola. Cap-Haitien was violently shaken by an MS 8.1 earthquake (19.5 N, 72.1 W) which occurred in the Northern Depression of Hispaniola (Haiti and Dominican Republic). It extended from Samana to Mole St. Nicolas, and crossing the Windward Passage, was felt along the Sierra Maestra in Cuba, and throughout the Antilles.

From the late 1400s through the late 1600s, the Spanish controlled the island of Hispanola, the site of modern-day Haiti and the Dominican Republic. French pirates began to inhabit the western side of Hispanola, also called Santo Domingo in Spanish or Saint-Domingue in French. In 1697 the Treaty of Ryswick led to Spain’s ceding of the western third of the island to the French.

The first earthquake of magnitude 6.9 at 17 31 hours on August 21st ,2018. The tremor, which occurred around 5.30pm and reportedly lasted for about two minutes. A magnitude of 7.2 was reported at the epicentre in Venezuela. A magnitude 6.0 aftershock occurred at 0928 hours on August 22, 2018. Further to the earthquake event there were 32 aftershocks. These were evenly distributed from 21st August 2018 into 22nd August 2018. There were no reports of loss of life and serious injury.