The Great Lisbon Earthquake: How One Disaster Changed the World Forever
Portugal was long the world's largest colonial power. This small European kingdom controlled vast territories in the New World, Southeast Asia, and Africa. Lisbon possessed an impressive navy and actively traded with many countries. But in the 18th century, the situation changed dramatically. Portugal's power gradually declined, until only memories remained of its former glory. Many factors contributed to the state's decline, among which the devastating earthquake known as the Great Lisbon earthquake holds a special place.
In the mid-18th century, Portugal successfully competed with Spain, Great Britain, and France in military and trade. Lisbon was considered the most densely populated capital in the world, and residents from the most remote corners of the planet could be found on its streets. This continued until November 1, 1755, when the country suffered the most devastating cataclysm in its history.
Many perceived the Great Lisbon Earthquake as divine punishment for human sins. It occurred on All Saints' Day, an important Catholic holiday. On this day, visitors from all over Portugal arrived in Lisbon, and the already crowded capital was overflowing. People filled the streets, squares, and majestic cathedrals of the city.
At precisely 9:40 a.m. local time, the first tremor occurred. There were three in total, each lasting about ten minutes. The epicenter was located 200 kilometers southwest of Cape St. Vincent. Modern seismologists, having studied the surviving data, have concluded that the earthquake's magnitude reached 8.5–9.
The second tremor was the most powerful, causing ground shaking that lasted for about three minutes. As a result, numerous buildings collapsed, and the city's terrain was changed beyond recognition. Deep cracks ripped through Lisbon, gradually developing into veritable sinkholes that swallowed entire buildings. Due to this destruction, travel within the city was virtually stopped, and evacuation became an extremely difficult task.
Within minutes, approximately 100,000 people died. Damage affected all of Lisbon's architectural monuments, some of which were completely destroyed. The disaster did not spare the city's famous cathedrals: the Basilica of Santa Maria, São Vicente de Fora, São Paulo, Santa Catarina, and Misericórdia. The city's beautiful waterfront was submerged, and the marble Cais de Pedra tower was also submerged.
A thick cloud of dust rose over the city, turning the clear day into a dark twilight. When the earthquake struck, many Lisbon residents and visitors to the capital were in churches attending festive services. Many perished under the collapsed buildings. Thousands of candles burned in the churches, sparking massive fires.
Streets littered with rubble and crisscrossed with cracks hampered evacuation and prevented rescuers from helping the victims. Fire engulfed the city, destroying two-thirds of all buildings. People trapped in homes and churches burned alive. Heart-rending screams echoed across Lisbon. The fire destroyed the Lisbon Library, which housed over 80,000 books, as well as archives containing priceless maps from the Age of Discovery.
When the shaking subsided, survivors flocked to the city's embankment. They hoped to find safety there if the earthquake returned. Many rushed to board ships and boats, believing they were safe on the water. However, this decision proved to be a fatal mistake.
Forty minutes after the final shock, a 17-meter tsunami wave struck the harbor and the city center. The first wave was followed by two smaller waves, each 5–6 meters high. The water swept people off the embankment and nearby streets, wrecked ships, and capsized overcrowded boats.
Lisbon suffered the most as a result of the natural disaster. But other Portuguese cities were not spared. Cascais and Setúbal suffered severe damage, with buildings collapsing, and three powerful waves inflicted additional damage. Coastal villages also suffered, suffering more from the tsunami than from the tremors. Fishermen and farmers lost their fishing boats, homes, and arable land.
Portugal suffered the most severe damage from the earthquake. But the disaster also affected other countries. Destruction was reported in Morocco and southwestern Spain. A tsunami up to 20 meters high struck the coast of North Africa and the Caribbean islands of Martinique and Barbados. A 3-meter-high wave even reached the southern coast of England!
The legendary adventurer Casanova was in prison in Venice on that day, November 1, 1755. He later described the events of that day. His cell was in the attic of the prison on St. Mark's Square. Casanova was standing and looking out the window at the square when he suddenly began to lose his balance. He noticed a huge beam supporting the roof shift. A few seconds later, the shaking repeated, and the terrified prison guards scattered in all directions.
The Great Lisbon Earthquake of 1755 was not only the largest disaster in Portuguese history. It changed the course of history. The country suffered enormous damage from which it never recovered. In Lisbon, 85 percent of buildings were destroyed. The disaster destroyed not only architectural monuments, but also administrative and residential buildings.
Valuable papers and documents were irretrievably lost, including the Royal Archives, which contained records of the explorations of Vasco da Gama and other great navigators of the late Middle Ages. Along with the palaces and villas of Portuguese aristocrats, paintings by Titian, Rubens, and Correggio, ancient statues, and collections of artifacts brought from all over the world perished.
The Phoenix Opera House, opened just six months before the earthquake, was reduced to rubble. Sadly, we can only guess at what else global culture lost as a result of this natural disaster. It's worth remembering that the earthquake killed hundreds of artists and scientists who had driven progress forward.
The damage to Lisbon was so extensive that King José I despaired and considered abandoning the city. He planned to move the capital to another, less severely damaged town. The monarch was dissuaded by a high-ranking nobleman, Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, the future Marquis of Pombal.
The aristocrat convinced the king to clear the city of rubble and begin rebuilding Lisbon. The remnants of the royal treasury had to be spent on the reconstruction of the capital and other damaged cities. The cataclysm triggered famine, epidemics, and civil unrest. The monarchy no longer had time for colonial ambitions—all its efforts and resources were devoted to maintaining order in the country, but these were woefully insufficient.
The coincidence of the Great Lisbon Earthquake with a major Catholic holiday did not go unnoticed. Europe's most authoritative thinkers and theologians began to speculate about divine punishment and put forward various hypotheses about the event. All this led to a flurry of speculation and the inevitable emergence of all sorts of communities and sects.
Catholic clergy unanimously blamed the sinful population of Lisbon for the disaster. The Inquisition, which had gradually begun to lose ground by the mid-18th century, also became more active. The search for heretics and witches in Portugal resumed with renewed vigor.
The earthquake in Portugal influenced philosophical thought. The cataclysm gave rise to a number of new doctrines, such as Kahn's theory of divine intervention. The disaster became the first catastrophic event in the world whose news spread rapidly throughout Europe, facilitated by the newly emerging newspapers.
The world recognized the importance of the media, and this gave rise to the development of journalism. Scientists, who had little faith in divine providence, began to ponder the causes of disasters and ways to predict them. Scientists in various countries began recording the events surrounding tremors. This marked the beginning of the active development of a new science: seismology. Engineers followed suit, beginning to consider the seismic resistance of buildings and structures when designing them.
The great tragedy of 1755 was a turning point not only for Portugal but for all of Europe—it changed the face of Lisbon, destroyed an empire, and forced philosophers, scientists, and architects to rethink the established order. Do you think one devastating event can truly change the course of an entire country's history—or is it merely a catalyst for processes that were already inevitable?