Lower magnitude events are included if they have caused death, injury or damage.

Events which occurred in remote areas will be excluded from the list as they wouldn't have generated significant media interest.

Firstly, in February the deadliest event of the year struck Morocco with over 13,000 deaths.

The magnitude of the earthquake was a fairly modest 5.8 but its proximity to Agadir attributed to the high death toll.

The event reached 9.5 in magnitude and helped spawn a destructive tsunami which affected the Pacific Rim.