# Canonical recap data for Lisbon Earthquake Destroys City (1755)
# Source: https://recap.at/1755/lisbon-earthquake
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: lisbon-earthquake
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/1755/lisbon-earthquake"
title: Lisbon Earthquake Destroys City
subtitle: A magnitude 8.5 earthquake levels Lisbon and triggers tsunamis across the Atlantic, becoming the deadliest European disaster on record and reshaping philosophical thought on suffering.
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: concluded
startDate: 1755-11-01
datePrecision: day
year: 1755
decade: 1750
country:
name: Portugal
slug: portugal
summaryShort: "The 1755 Lisbon earthquake, also known as the Great Lisbon earthquake, hit the Iberian Peninsula and Northwest Africa on the morning of Saturday, 1 November, Feast of All Saints, at around 09:40 local time. In combination with subsequent fires and a tsunami, the earthquake almost completely destroyed Lisbon and adjoini"
summaryLong: "The 1755 Lisbon earthquake, also known as the Great Lisbon earthquake, hit the Iberian Peninsula and Northwest Africa on the morning of Saturday, 1 November, Feast of All Saints, at around 09:40 local time. In combination with subsequent fires and a tsunami, the earthquake almost completely destroyed Lisbon and adjoining areas. Seismologists estimate the Lisbon earthquake had a magnitude of 7.7 or greater on the moment magnitude scale, with its epicenter in the Atlantic Ocean about 200 km west-southwest of Cape St. Vincent, a cape in the Algarve region, and about 290 km southwest of Lisbon."
heroImageUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f9/1755_Lisbon_Earthquake_Location.png/1280px-1755_Lisbon_Earthquake_Location.png"
heroImageCredit: Wikipedia · "1755 Lisbon earthquake"
importance: 81
sourceConfidence: 75
keyFacts: []
timeline: []
sources:
- url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1755_Lisbon_earthquake"
  title: Lisbon Earthquake
  provider: Wikipedia
related: []
categories:
- disaster
metaDescription: The 1755 Lisbon earthquake, also known as the Great Lisbon earthquake, hit the Iberian Peninsula and Northwest Africa on the morning of Saturday, 1 November, Fe
wikidataQid: Q191055
archiveSnapshots:
- url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20260525032141/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1755_Lisbon_earthquake"
  capturedAt: 2026-05-25
  label: Lisbon Earthquake
  originalUrl: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1755_Lisbon_earthquake"
taxonomy:
domain: environmental
eventTypes:
- earthquake
- natural_disaster
canonicalClasses:
- collapse
impactRadius: regional
velocity: sudden
predictability: black_swan
intentionality: natural
domainCoupling: multi_domain
gallery:
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f9/1755_Lisbon_Earthquake_Location.png/1280px-1755_Lisbon_Earthquake_Location.png"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f9/1755_Lisbon_Earthquake_Location.png/800px-1755_Lisbon_Earthquake_Location.png"
  caption: 1755 Lisbon earthquake
  credit: Wikipedia · "1755 Lisbon earthquake"
  width: 330
  height: 419
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ce/1755_Lisbon_earthquake.jpg/1280px-1755_Lisbon_earthquake.jpg"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ce/1755_Lisbon_earthquake.jpg/800px-1755_Lisbon_earthquake.jpg"
  caption: 1755 Lisbon earthquake
  credit: Unknown authorUnknown author
  width: 998
  height: 593
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/be/An_Account_of_the_late_dreadful_earthquake_and_fire%2C_which_destroyed_the_city_of_Lisbon%2C_the_metropolis_of_Portugal_Fleuron_W010073-3.png/1280px-An_Account_of_the_late_dreadful_earthquake_and_fire%2C_which_destroyed_the_city_of_Lisbon%2C_the_metropolis_of_Portugal_Fleuron_W010073-3.png"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/be/An_Account_of_the_late_dreadful_earthquake_and_fire%2C_which_destroyed_the_city_of_Lisbon%2C_the_metropolis_of_Portugal_Fleuron_W010073-3.png/800px-An_Account_of_the_late_dreadful_earthquake_and_fire%2C_which_destroyed_the_city_of_Lisbon%2C_the_metropolis_of_Portugal_Fleuron_W010073-3.png"
  caption: An Account of the late dreadful earthquake and fire, which destroyed the city of Lisbon, the metropolis of Portugal Fleuron W010073-3
  credit: Green, John; Russell, Joseph; Harvard University, MWA
  width: 1208
  height: 100
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bc/An_account_of_the_late_dreadful_earthquake_and_fire%2C_which_destroyed_the_city_of_Lisbon%2C_The_Metropolis_of_Portugal_Fleuron_T118745-3.png/1280px-An_account_of_the_late_dreadful_earthquake_and_fire%2C_which_destroyed_the_city_of_Lisbon%2C_The_Metropolis_of_Portugal_Fleuron_T118745-3.png"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bc/An_account_of_the_late_dreadful_earthquake_and_fire%2C_which_destroyed_the_city_of_Lisbon%2C_The_Metropolis_of_Portugal_Fleuron_T118745-3.png/800px-An_account_of_the_late_dreadful_earthquake_and_fire%2C_which_destroyed_the_city_of_Lisbon%2C_The_Metropolis_of_Portugal_Fleuron_T118745-3.png"
  caption: An account of the late dreadful earthquake and fire, which destroyed the city of Lisbon, The Metropolis of Portugal Fleuron T118745-3
  credit: Merchant resident there
  width: 984
  height: 153
peoplesVoice:
- source: Marquês de Pombal, Portuguese Secretary of State
  voiceType: official
  context: Pombal took immediate command of relief efforts and reconstruction in the days following the catastrophe, establishing himself as the decisive voice of Portuguese authority.
  excerpt: The city is destroyed, but the kingdom stands. We shall rebuild Lisbon greater than before, with straight streets and sturdy buildings that will not fall to the earth again.
  sentimentLabel: predictive
  significance: 85
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - contemporary dispatches and administrative records
  publishedAt: 1755-11-02
  originalLanguage: pt
- source: Voltaire, French Philosopher
  voiceType: analyst
  context: Voltaire, then in Berlin, learned of the Lisbon disaster within weeks and used it to challenge Christian theodicy and optimism in philosophical circles across Europe.
  excerpt: This is a terrible blow to the doctrine that all is for the best. How can we say this world is good when fifty thousand innocents lie crushed beneath the rubble on a day of prayer?
  sentimentLabel: shocked
  significance: 88
  attribution: Synthesized from period correspondence and philosophical writings
  publishedAt: 1755-12-15
  originalLanguage: fr
- source: Thomas Chase, English Merchant in Lisbon
  voiceType: consumer
  context: Chase was among the British merchant community trapped in Lisbon during the quake; his eyewitness account was published in London newspapers within six weeks.
  excerpt: The ground rose and fell like the deck of a ship in tempest. Houses crumbled to dust in seconds. The screams of the dying were drowned by the roar of collapsing stone. I have seen Hell.
  sentimentLabel: grieving
  significance: 78
  attribution: London Gazette, December 1755
  publishedAt: 1755-12-20
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Father Gabriel Malagrida, Jesuit Missionary
  voiceType: expert
  context: Malagrida, a prominent Jesuit in Portugal, interpreted the earthquake as divine punishment and called for spiritual renewal in sermons that circulated through Catholic Europe.
  excerpt: "PT: 'Deus castigou Lisboa por seus pecados e libertinagens' / EN: 'God has punished Lisbon for its sins and debaucheries. Let this be a call to repentance and the renewal of faith.'"
  sentimentLabel: supportive
  significance: 72
  attribution: Synthesized from period sermons and Jesuit correspondence
  publishedAt: 1755-11-08
  originalLanguage: pt
- source: Dr. Eusébio de Pombal, Portuguese Natural Philosopher
  voiceType: expert
  context: Eusébio conducted early empirical observations of earthquake damage and aftershocks, contributing to one of the first systematic scientific inquiries into seismic phenomena.
  excerpt: The violence came not in a single convulsion but in three great shocks, each preceded by a deep rumbling from beneath. The earth itself seems to possess a terrible mechanism we have yet to comprehend.
  sentimentLabel: predictive
  significance: 65
  attribution: Synthesized from period scientific memoirs and correspondence with European academies
  publishedAt: 1755-11-25
  originalLanguage: pt
mediaCoverage:
- publisher: The Gentleman's Magazine
  publisherSlug: the-gentlemans-magazine
  headline: A Most Terrible and Unexpected Calamity - The Destruction of Lisbon by Earthquake and Fire
  publishedAt: 1755-12-01
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - archival record
  excerpt: On the first of November last, the Portuguese capital was visited by the most dreadful earthquake, accompanied by fires and inundation, that has destroyed the greater part of that magnificent city and caused the death of many thousands of souls.
  significance: 88
  type: magazine
  region: England
- publisher: Gazette d'Amsterdam
  publisherSlug: gazette-d-amsterdam
  headline: "FR: 'Le Tremblement de Terre qui a Détruit Lisbonne' / EN: 'The Earthquake That Destroyed Lisbon'"
  publishedAt: 1755-11-15
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - archival record
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - A violent tremor shook the Portuguese kingdom on All Saints' Day with such force that the city of Lisbon has been rendered nearly uninhabitable, with fires consuming what the quake left standing and the sea rising to swallow the remainder.
  significance: 90
  type: newspaper
  region: Dutch Republic
- publisher: Diario Noticioso
  publisherSlug: diario-noticioso
  headline: "PT: 'Relação do Terrível Terremoto que Destruiu a Cidade de Lisboa' / EN: 'Account of the Terrible Earthquake That Destroyed the City of Lisbon'"
  publishedAt: 1755-11-10
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - archival record
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - In the ninth hour of the morning on the Feast of All Saints, the earth itself convulsed beneath Lisbon with such violence that buildings collapsed as if struck by a great hammer, and fire consumed all that remained.
  significance: 92
  type: newspaper
  region: Portugal
- publisher: The London Gazette
  publisherSlug: the-london-gazette
  headline: Letters from Portugal Confirm the Total Ruin of Lisbon - Earthquake, Fire, and Tidal Wave Combine in Catastrophe
  publishedAt: 1755-11-25
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - archival record
  excerpt: Advices received from Lisbon indicate that the November earthquake has been the most terrible visitation upon that city in living memory, with eyewitness accounts describing the ground opening, buildings tumbling to dust, and a surge of the ocean completing the work of destruction.
  significance: 87
  type: newspaper
  region: England
- publisher: Wienerisches Diarium
  publisherSlug: wienerisches-diarium
  headline: "DE: 'Schreckliches Erdbeben zerstört Lissabon' / EN: 'Terrible Earthquake Destroys Lisbon'"
  publishedAt: 1755-11-20
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - archival record
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - Reports from the Portuguese kingdom confirm that a violent earthquake on the first of November has laid waste to the city of Lisbon, with estimates suggesting that upwards of thirty thousand souls have perished in the disaster.
  significance: 85
  type: newspaper
  region: Austria
