Thursday, November 01, 2007
This Day in the History of Iberian Cataclysms
On this day in 1755, at about 9:00 am, an earthquake in Lisbon, Portugal, killed 60,000 people, which was approximately 1/3 of the city's population and nearly destroyed the city. What we call now the P waves scared everyone inside and they fled to the narrow, crowded streets. Then the S waves arrived and shook the facades of the buildings down on the poor citizens' heads. Then the city caught fire and then a tsunami arrived in the harbor. Rough day for the Portuguese and a seminal event for intellectuals in the late 18th Century.
Labels: Lisbon earthquake
# posted by Roger Fraley @ 6:41 AM 
