US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Wednesday that the United States will provide strong support to help Haiti deal with a devastating earthquake which struck the Caribbean country on Tuesday.

Clinton, who flew to Honolulu, Hawaii to jumpstart a nine-day Asia-Pacific trip, said she would help to coordinate quake relief effort from the US Pacific Command based in Hawaii.

The secretary said she planned to go on with the scheduled trip but indicated that the visit may be shortened in the event of the earthquake in Haiti.

Meanwhile, Pentagon officials said on Wednesday that the US military has decided to send USS Carl Vinson and three amphibious ships to Haiti for relief operations.

USS Carl Winson, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, was already en route and could reach Haiti as early as on Friday, the officials said.

(Xinhua News Agency January 14, 2010)