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

In a busy year with 17 major quakes, Indonesia was hit particularly hard.

More than 500 people died in Lombok in August and a major earthquake struck the Palu region in September, with more than 4,000 casualties caused mainly by liquefaction and a tsunami.

Other deadly events took place in Papua New Guinea, Japan, Haiti, Taiwan and Mexico.

The strongest quake with a magnitude of 8.2 occurred in Fiji, at a great depth of 600 km (373 mi).