Was the north-west African coast area free of disastrous earthquakes during the Roman period?

This study focusses on earthquakes in the NW Africa coast during the Roman period (circa 100BC–AD500). For this period, only one earthquake is known from written sources and two from inscriptions explicitly mentioning seismic events. Hence, the corresponding apparent seismicity rate is too small compared to the rate of the instrumental period. This apparent deficit may be due (1) to an interval of seismic quiescence of the North Africa compressional front or (2) to silence of historical sources. To shed light to this problem, seen from a broader perspective, a systematic study of the Roman literature focussing on earthquakes and related effects on a regional scale has started some time ago. A first result is that since the middle of the fourth century AD earthquakes were a tool of propaganda between Christians and pagans, hence any reference to earthquakes in this period, usually vague, should be treated with much care. Methods to decode and evaluate this type of information are discussed, and in addition it is highlighted that the recent digitalization of historical sources opens new ways in earthquake studies. This study represents a tribute to Assia Harbi, whose research covered ancient earthquakes and which unfortunately remained uncomplete.