The Tibet Post

His Holiness in his message to the H.E. Rene Garcia Preval, President of Republic of Haiti, said, "I am deeply saddened by the loss of so many lives and property as a result of the earthquake that struck the capital city Port-au-Prince on Tuesday."

"I extend my sympathy and heartfelt condolences to all those families who have been directly affected by what I understand is the worst quake in two centuries in the history of Haiti," the message added.

His Holiness has further written to the Haitian President, "I offer my prayers for those who have lost their lives in this tragedy and condolences to their families and others affected by this natural disaster."

A major quake of 7.3-magnitude rocked the Caribbean nation of Haiti on 12th January 2010 and damaged presidential palace besides other government buildings in the country's capital Port-au-Prince, an incident termed as "catastrophe of major proportions".

"We have already collected around 50,000 dead bodies," Interior Minister Paul Antoine Bien-Aime told Reuters. "We anticipate there will be between 100,000 and 200,000 dead in total, although we will never know the exact number."