The island of Hispaniola, shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic, is seismically active and has experienced significantly destructive tremors in the past. According to Jean Vogt in the article "A glimpse at the historical seismology of the West Indies", "Widespread cracking and liquefaction occurred in 1751 and 1770 in the wide Cul-de-Sac plain of Southern Haiti," and this liquefaction, in which layers of sediment in the earth's crust shift and form a liquid-like substance that causes buildings, piers, and other structures to shift and break, was present in the 2010 Haiti earthquake as well.