An earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale rocked Haiti on Tuesday and "catastrophic" casualties are feared, though no official reports are currently available.

The earthquake struck at about 4:53 p.m. local time (2153 GMT) and was centered 15 km southwest of Port au Prince, the capital city, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said.

The presidential palace was severely damaged. Many buildings including the headquarters of the UN mission in Haiti, churches, supermarkets, restaurants and hospitals collapsed, according to local media reports.

Following are the major earthquakes that have occurred in recent years on the American continent:

In 2001, two earthquakes measuring 7.6 and 6.6 struck El Salvador on Jan. 13 and Feb. 13, killing at least 1,279 and injuring more than 9,000. More than 1.6 million Salvadorians suffered from the quake.

In the same year, a magnitude-6.9 quake rocked Arequipa Province, southern Peru, on June 23. It killed 75 people and more than 2,680 were injured. More then 100 people went missing in the quake.

On Jan. 21, 2003, a magnitude-7.6 trembler occurred in the State of Colima, central Mexico, killing at least 20, leaving more than 100 injured and hundreds homeless.

On June 13, 2005, a strong quake measuring 7.9 rattled Chile's remote northern Andes area near the Bolivian border, killing at least seven people and injuring three.

On Aug. 15, 2007, a magnitude-7.5 quake hit southern Peru, killing at least 550 and more than 1,600 were injured. Around 32,300 houses collapsed and more than 80,000 were afflicted by the quake.

On May 24, 2008, 14 people were killed and more than 300 were injured when a quake measuring 5.5 jolted Meta Department, central Colombia.

On Jan. 8, 2009, a magnitude-6.2 quake occurred near San Jose, capital of Costa Rica, killing 25 and affecting 120,000. It caused economic losses of more than 100 million U.S. dollars.

On May. 28, 2009, eight people were killed in a powerful earthquake measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale that struck Honduras' northern Carribean area. Thousands of houses collapsed and nearly 10,000 were evacuated. Economic losses directly caused by the quake hit 100 million dollars.