The earthquake had its epicenter west of Carrefour, about 16 kilometers southwest of the capital Port-au-Prince, said the U.S. geological center.
In the city of Petionville, just outside Port-au-Prince, witnesses reported that a three-storey high houses collapsed and people ran out into the streets in panic.
A tremor in the Force 7 can result in major damage.
It was sent out a tsunami alert for coastal areas around the Caribbean Sea, particularly the Dominican Republic, Cuba and the Bahamas, after reports that the episenteret was in the sea off Haiti.
But the risk is probably small since it turned out later that episenteret the country.