A talk by Peter Kingdon Booker

The Lisbon Earthquake of 1st November 1755 was the most powerful earthquake in the recorded history of Europe. It had a profound influence on Portugal, and was also felt over a wide area of Europe and North Africa. This natural phenomenon was the cause of much debate over the nature of divine judgement on human failings; and because it occurred during the Age of Enlightenment, many forward thinkers were able to reject such notions. But it was not only Lisbon that was affected, of course. The Algarve, being so much closer to the epicentre, also suffered severely. The focus of this particular talk is on the damage inflicted on the poorest region of mainland Portugal. What was the extent of the damage in the Kingdom of the Algarve? Why did some towns suffer more than others? Why were some buildings wrecked, while others emerged relatively unscathed? And most interesting of all, how did the government of Portugal make its amazing contribution to today´s science of seismology?