Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton expressed sympathy and pledged support for the victims of today's earthquake in Haiti.

"We are still gathering information about this catastrophic earthquake," she said before giving a speech at the East-West Center in Manoa. "The United States is offering our full assistance to Haiti and others in the region."

"We will be offering both civilian and military disaster relief. Our prayers are with the people who have suffered, their families and their loved ones," she said.

A magnitude 7.0 quake struck just 10 miles west of the capital of Port-au-Prince, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It was the largest earthquake ever recorded in the area, and caused a hospital to collapse, according to initial reports.





By Susan Essoyan, Honolulu Star Bulletin, January 12, 2010