AN earthquake that struck off the northern coast of Haiti late Saturday killed at least 11 people and injured more than 100 when several buildings collapsed in the impoverished Caribbean country, officials said.

The magnitude 5.9 quake was centered about 20 kilometers northwest of the coastal town of Port-de-Paix, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said.

The police chief for the northwest region, Jackson Hilaire, said at least seven people were killed and more than 100 injured in Port-de-Paix.

Another four people died in and around the town of Gros-Morne further south, including a boy struck by a falling building, said mayor Jean Renel Tide.

The tremor was one of the strongest to hit Haiti since a 7.0 magnitude quake struck near the capital, Port-au-Prince, in 2010, killing tens of thousands of people.(SD-Agencies)