The Great Lisbon Earthquake of 1755: "The Age of Science and Reason"

On November 1, 1755 (All Saints' Day), a huge, devastating earthquake occurred off the coast of Lisbon Portugal. It has been argued that this single earthquake led to the decline of the Portuguese empire, and changed the world by bringing about the "Age of Science and Reason."

The magnitude of this earthquake has been estimated to be as high as 8.7, but more recent research concludes that it was somewhat lower: in the 7.2 to 8.2 range. But regardless of the uncertainty in estimating its magnitude, this was clearly a very large and tragic earthquake, which led to major changes in society and culture, at least in Portugal and likely more far reaching than that. It has been argued that this earthquake brought about historical changes in worldviews regarding whether earthquakes are punishment by god for the sins of the world versus natural phenomena that can be explained by scientific analysis.

Details regarding the fascinating story of this earthquake and its consequences can be found at these (and other) references:

Bressan, D. (2011). November 1, 1755: The Earthquake of Lisbon: Wrath of God or Natural Disaster?, blogs.scientificamerican.com/history-of-geology/november-1-1755-the-earthquake-of-lisbon-wraith-of-god-or-natural-disaster, November, 2011.

Fonseca, J. (2020). A Reassessment of the Magnitude of the 1755 Lisbon Earthquake. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, January, 2020.