EARTH QUAKE AND TZUNAMI ATTACKED IN LISBON
CLAIMED 1,00,000 ON 1755 NOVEMBER 1
The 1755 Lisbon earthquake, also known as the Great Lisbon earthquake, occurred in the Kingdom of Portugal on Saturday, 1 November, the holy day of All Saints' Day, at around 09:40 local time.[2]
 | |
| Date | 1 November 1755 |
|---|---|
| Magnitude | 8.5–9.0 Mw (est.) |
| Epicenter | 36°N 11°WCoordinates: 36°N 11°W About 200 km (120 mi) west-southwest of Cape St. Vincent |
| Areas affected | Kingdom of Portugal, Kingdom of Spain, Kingdom of Morocco. The tsunami affected Southern Great Britain and Ireland |
| Max. intensity | XI (Extreme) [1] |
| Casualties | 70,000–100,000 deaths |
Estimates place the death toll in Lisbon alone between 70,000 and 100,000 people,[5] making it one of the deadliest earthquakes in history.
The earthquake accentuated political tensions in the Kingdom of Portugal and profoundly disrupted the country's colonial ambitions. The event was widely discussed and dwelt upon by European Enlightenment philosophers, and inspired major developments in theodicy. As the first earthquake studied scientifically for its effects over a large area, it led to the birth of modern seismology and earthquake engineering.
Earthquake and tsunami[edit]
1755 copper engraving showing Lisbon in flames and
a tsunami overwhelming the ships in the harbor.
A depiction of the 1755 Lisbon earthquake as seen from across the Tagus River.
In 1755, the earthquake struck on the morning of 1 November, the holy day of All Saints' Day. Contemporary reports state that the earthquake lasted between three and a half and six minutes, causing fissures 5 metres (15 feet) wide to open in the city centre.
Survivors rushed to the open space of the docks for safety and watched as the water receded, revealing a sea floor littered with lost cargo and shipwrecks. Approximately 40 minutes after the earthquake, a tsunami engulfed the harbour and downtown area, rushing up the Tagus river,[6] "so fast that several people riding on horseback ... were forced to gallop as fast as possible to the upper grounds for fear of being carried away." It was followed by two more waves. In the areas unaffected by the tsunami,[citation needed] fire quickly broke out, and flames raged for five days.
Lisbon was not the only Portuguese city affected by the catastrophe. Throughout the south of the country, in particular the Algarve, destruction was rampant. The tsunami destroyed some coastal fortresses in the Algarve and, in the lower levels, it razed several houses. Almost all the coastal towns and villages of the Algarve were heavily damaged, except Faro, which was protected by the sandy banks of Ria Formosa
. In Lagos, the waves reached the top of the city walls. Other towns of different Portuguese regions, such as Peniche, Cascais, and even Covilhã, which is located near the Serra da Estrela mountain range in central inland Portugal, were affected. The shock waves of the earthquake destroyed part of Covilhã's castle walls and its large towers.
On the island of Madeira, Funchal and many smaller settlements suffered significant damage. Almost all of the ports in the Azores archipelago suffered most of their destruction from the tsunami, with the sea penetrating about 150 m inland.
Calculated travel times for the tsunami waves of
1 November 1755.
waves of 1 November 1755.
Shocks from the earthquake were felt throughout Europe[7][8] as far as Finland and North Africa, and according to some sources even in Greenland,[9] and the Caribbean.[10] Tsunamis as tall as 20 metres (66 ft) swept the coast of North Africa, and struck Martinique and Barbados across the Atlantic.
A three-metre (ten-foot) tsunami hit Cornwall on the southern English coast. Galway, on the west coast of Ireland, was also hit, resulting in partial destruction of the "Spanish Arch" section of the city wall. At Kinsale, several vessels were whirled round in the harbor, and water poured into the marketplace.[10]
In 2015, it was revealed that the tsunami waves may have reached the coast of Brazil, then a colony of Portugal. Such a hypothesis was raised by reviewing letters sent by Brazilian authorities at the time of the earthquake. These letters describe damage and destruction caused by gigantic waves.[11]
Although seismologists and geologists have always agreed that the epicentre was in the Atlantic to the West of the Iberian Peninsula, its exact location has been a subject of considerable debate. Early hypotheses had proposed the Gorringe Ridge until simulations showed that a source closer to the shore of Portugal was required to comply with the observed effects of the tsunami.
A seismic reflection survey of the ocean floor along the Azores–Gibraltar Transform Fault has revealed a 50 km-long thrust structure southwest of Cape St. Vincent, with a dip-slip throw of more than 1 km. This structure may have created the primary tectonic event.[12]
Casualties and damage[edit]
The ruins of the Carmo Convent, which was destroyed
in the Lisbon earthquake.
destroyed in the Lisbon earthquake
Economic historian Álvaro Pereira estimated that of Lisbon's population of approximately 200,000 people, some 30,000–40,000 were killed; another 10,000 may have lost their lives in Morocco. However, a 2009 study of contemporary reports relating to the 1 November event found them vague and difficult to separate from reports of another local series of earthquakes on 18–19 November.[13] Pereira estimated the total death toll in Portugal, Spain and Morocco from the earthquake and the resulting fires and tsunami at 40,000 to 50,000 people.[14][15]
Eighty-five percent of Lisbon's buildings were destroyed, including famous palaces and libraries, as well as most examples of Portugal's distinctive 16th-century Manueline architecture. Several buildings that had suffered little earthquake damage were destroyed by the subsequent fire. The new Lisbon opera house (the "Ópera do Tejo"), opened just six months before, burned to the ground.
The Royal Ribeira Palace, which stood just beside the Tagus river in the modern square of Terreiro do Paço, was destroyed by the earthquake and tsunami. Inside, the 70,000-volume royal library as well as hundreds of works of art, including paintings by Titian, Rubens, and Correggio, were lost. The royal archives disappeared together with detailed historical records of explorations by Vasco da Gama and other early navigators. The palace of Henrique de Meneses, 3rd Marquis of Louriçal, which housed an invaluable library of 18,000 books, was also destroyed.[16]
The earthquake damaged several major churches in Lisbon, namely the Lisbon Cathedral, the Basilicas of São Paulo, Santa Catarina, São Vicente de Fora, and the Misericórdia Church. The Royal Hospital of All Saints (the largest public hospital at the time) in the Rossio square was consumed by fire and hundreds of patients burned to death. The tomb of national hero Nuno Álvares Pereira was also lost. Visitors to Lisbon may still walk the ruins of the Carmo Convent, which were preserved to remind Lisboners of the destruction
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