President Barack Obama said the United States stood "ready to assist" Haiti after a powerful 7.0 quake rocked the impoverished Caribbean nation.
"My thoughts and prayers go out to those who have been affected by this earthquake. We are closely monitoring the situation and we stand ready to assist the people of Haiti," he said.
The White House said Obama was notified about the quake at 5:52 pm (2252 GMT), and asked staff to find out if embassy personnel were safe.
"The United States is offering our full assistance to Haiti and to others in the region. We will be providing both civilian and military disaster relief and humanitarian assistance."