Only earthquakes of magnitude 6 or above are included, unless they result in damage and/or casualties, or are notable for some other reason.

Events in remote areas will not be listed but included in statistics and maps.

Although activity was once again below average, 1980 had several deadly events which helped the overall number of deaths surpass 10,000.

The largest of just 6 magnitude 7.0+ events measured 7.9 and struck the Solomon Islands in July.

At the end of November southern Italy was struck by a magnitude 6.9 earthquake which led to nearly 4,700 deaths.