1755 Lisbon's Earthquake

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On the  morning of the 1st of November 1755, one of Europe's largest earthquakes struck Lisbon. By the end of the week 75,000 people in Lisbon alone had died as a direct result of the earthquake, tsunami and fires,  making the earthquake of 1755  one of the  most deadly the world had ever seen.

The devastation caused many Portuguese to question their religious beliefs and the horrific event has shaped Lisbon's history ever since. Every tourist who visits Lisbon will still encounter remains or ruins from the earthquake even though 250 years have passed.

The 1st  of November is the holy feast day of All Saints and the deeply religious Portuguese packed Lisbon's grand churches and cathedrals to celebrate this important feast day. The old construction methods were not designed to withstand such violent movements of the earth and many unfortunately worshippers died as the roofs of these historic buildings collapsed as the tremendous tremors struck Lisbon.

As part of the religious celebrations every possible candle was lit and the churches were decorated with flowers and flammable decorations. As the tremors rocked the churches the candles tumbled and ignited the flowers and these fires ravaged Lisbon for 5 further days after the earthquake.

The first tremor of the massive earthquake occurred partway through the long  Latin church service at 10:24am. There has been much discussion on the estimated size  of the earthquake but it is believed to be between a magnitude 8.5-9.0. The strength was enough to bring down the solid stone walls of the Ribeira Palace and roofs of dozens of churches across Lisbon. The destruction included the Se Cathedral, the Igreja de Carmo, the grand library, the royal palace (Ribeira Palace ) and most of the  area of Baixa.

The roof of the Mositorary de Jeromnes in Belem surprisingly did not collapse as spindly stone columns seem unnaturally to small to support the vast roof. The Igreja de Carmo remained part destroyed as a permanent reminder to all Portuguese of the destruction which befell their city.

The quake shock Lisbon for a devastating 3 and a half minutes in this time 2 meter wide cracks  developed in the streets and people feared the end of the world. The petrified inhabitants of Lisbon  evacuated the destruction of the churches for the relative safety of the open dock lands unaware of the impending tsunami.

The epicentre of the Lisbon earthquake of 1755 was 200 Km from Cape Vicente  in the  Atlantic Ocean and estimates have gauged the magnitude of the quake as high as magnitude 9.0. This massive slip of the Azores-Gibraltar transform fault generated one of the largest tsunamis to hit Europe.

The tsunami struck Lisbon 45 minutes after the earthquake had subsided. In these 45 minutes Lisbon's population couldn't’t believe their luck  “as in gift from god” the water drained from the River Tejo revealing the contents of countless shipwrecks to the busy docks. 

Thousands of people raced into the muddy river base to claim the riches that  were revealing themselves as the water raced out prior to the tsunami hitting. No person of that era could predict what was about to be unleashed upon the city of Lisbon.....

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