1755 Lisbon Earthquake / Tsunami
Basic Time-Line
9:30 AM. Earthquake starts. First of 3 jolts lasting almost 10 minutes, Magnitude estimated at 8.5 - 9.0 on the Richter Scale. Epicenter believed to be in the Atlantic Ocean, some 200 km WSW of Cape St. Vincent, Portugal (the farthest, southwest point in Europe) along the Gorringe Ridge, formed by the convergence of the African Plate and the Eurasian Plate.
9:40 AM. Shaking stops after 3 distinct, strong jolts totally 10 minutes of strong shaking.
10:00 AM. Many fires started from the quake that destroyed a large part of Lisbon not already destroyed by the quake, itself. Fires raged for 5 days. Looters set fires to ransacked houses.
10:10 AM. First wave of the three tsunami waves hits Lisbon.
10:20 AM. The Algarve area of southern Portugal is struck by a tsunami wave estimated to have crested at 65 feet. Some costal regions, distant from Lisbon, were destroyed more by the tsunami waves than by the earthquake and fires.
10:30 AM. Lisbon virtually annihilated by earthquake, fires and tsunami, within an hour.
E+1 (The Day After the Disaster.) Shock still reigns with surviving victims trying to cope, gather belongings, assess damage, count family members to see who is still missing and, in general, survive.
E+7 (A Week After the Disaster.) Normalcy still in the future but city-fathers attempting to assist the victims, forming committees to provide some sort of aid and to assess damages. Shock still reigns among the surviving victims trying to cope, gathering their belongings, assessing damages, counting family members to see who is still missing and, in general, trying to survive.
E+Month (A Month Later.) Coping is major activity, victims "questioning their way of life" - (was it righteous, enough?), many believe disaster was more than an "Act-of-God" - (possible punishmment), first signs of assistance and recovery-aid by city govenors, plans for city- rebuilding, building codes analyzed and modified, etc. First in history of a city re-evaluating the consequences with many social implications and ramifications.
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