Скачать или смотреть 1755 Lisbon quake reshaped Europe’s disaster response.

Did you know that the tragic 1755 Lisbon earthquake reshaped how Europe approached disaster response? This catastrophe sparked the first systematic plan for dealing with calamities.

On All Saints' Day in 1755, Lisbon, Portugal, was struck by a devastating earthquake, followed by a tsunami and fires that nearly destroyed the city. Historical accounts suggest that the earthquake had a magnitude of about 8.5–9.0, which caused widespread destruction over southern Portugal, parts of Spain, and Morocco. The city of Lisbon was particularly hard hit, with most buildings including many historical landmarks reduced to rubble. The disaster killed tens of thousands of people, with estimates ranging wildly, but generally accepted to be between 30,000 to 40,000.

What sets this event apart in history, however, is not just the scale of destruction but how it influenced disaster management. The Marquis of Pombal, the then Prime Minister of Portugal, spearheaded the reconstruction of Lisbon with visionary urban planning that included the world’s first anti-seismic design. More importantly, Pombal initiated one of the first-ever attempts to create a systematic disaster response, addressing public safety in the wake of such events. His inquiries into the disaster led to the first seismic inquiry ever recorded, asking residents to describe what they experienced in a systematic manner—laying groundwork that would influence modern disaster preparedness and urban planning.

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