1755 Lisbon Earthquake

Jessie

The Disaster at Lisbon

• Great Lisbon Earthquake

• Kingdom of Portugal

• November 1, 1755 ( All Saints’ Day)

• Earthquake – Fire – Tsunami

Earthquake

• 200 Km South-West

from Cape St.

Vicent in the

Atlantic Ocean

• Worst damage

occurred in Lisbon

(Portugal’s capital)

• Moment

magnitude scale:

8.5~9.0

• After shocks

occurred in

December

• Huge fissures

through the center

of Lisbon (15 feet

wide)

• One of the

deadliest

earthquakes

Fire

• Cooking fires and

candels

• Looters set fire

• Very few people

extinguished the

fire

• Raged for five days

• 2/3 of the city was

destroyed

• Escaped to

waterfront and

coasts

Royal Opera House

Tsunami

• 30 minutes after

the earthquake

• Highest wave: 6

meters

• Reached farthest to

Galway in Ireland

• Greatest

destruction:

Algarve

Influences• Development of Seismology

• Influenced European Age of

Enlightenment

• Human cost (60000 people died)

• Great opportunity for economic

reform

The Constructions of Buildings

• Building heights should be restricted

• Streets must be wide enough

• Architectural ornamentation should be

reduced

• Add fire breaks between the roofs of

adjacent building

Royal Ribeira Palace

Lisbon Cathedral

Royal Hospital of All Saints

Reference• http://www.sms-tsunami-warning.com/pages/tsunami-portugal-

1755#.VJbjcAA8

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1755_Lisbon_earthquake

• http://nisee.berkeley.edu/lisbon/

• http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2365591/Massive-Portuguese-

earthquake-send-metre-high-tsunami-British-coast-submerge-Isles-Scilly.html

• http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-Issues/2010/1028/Japan-tsunami-is-

small-compared-to-five-of-world-s-biggest-tsunamis/1755-Lisbon-tsunami

• http://geology.about.com/library/bl/bllisbon1755eq.htm

• http://www.visionandvalues.org/2011/03/the-great-lisbon-earthquake-

thinking-theology-and-natural-disasters/

• https://ideas.repec.org/p/yor/cherry/06-03.html