Italy's coastguard has said it carried out seven rescue operations in less than 24 hours, saving 941 migrants in the Strait of Sicily, which separates the Italian island from the North African coast.
Those rescued included more than 30 children and at least one pregnant woman, who was taken to hospital.
Hundreds of people have died in recent months as waves of migrants from North Africa and the Middle East attempt to reach Europe, prompting criticism of rescue efforts.
A boat transporting migrants capsized off Sicily, killing at least 10 people, while scores were rescued, the coastguard said.
A tugboat for Libyan oil platforms alerted authorities to the capsized boat and an Italian coastguard vessel - already transporting 318 migrants who had been rescued earlier - headed to the scene.
Some 121 people were rescued after the boat sank yesterday.
In January and February, around 7,900 migrants arrived on the Italian coast, an increase of more than 43% over the the same period last year, according to figures from Italy's interior ministry.
The UN refugee agency UNHCR has urged the European Union to do more to save migrant lives after a string of tragedies in the Mediterranean.
The deaths have highlighted the limited means and scope of Triton, an EU-run mission which took over in November from the Italian navy's Mare Nostrum search and rescue operation.
Italy decided to scale back the mission after its EU partners refused to share running costs of around €9 million a month.
Triton, which comes under the authority of the EU borders agency Frontex, has a monthly budget of €2.9m and its patrols are generally restricted to the territorial waters of EU member states.
UNHCR said at least 3,500 people lost their lives last year out of more than 218,000 migrants who crossed the Mediterranean, making it the most deadly migrant route in the world.
