The 1531 Lisbon earthquake occurred in the

Kingdom of Portugal The Kingdom of Portugal ( la, Regnum Portugalliae, pt, Reino de Portugal) was a monarchy in the western Iberian Peninsula and the predecessor of the modern Portuguese Republic. Existing to various extents between 1139 and 1910, it was also kn ...

on the morning of 26 January 1531, between 4 and 5 o'clock. The

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...

and subsequent

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater exp ...

resulted in approximately 30,000 deaths. Despite its severity, the disaster had been mostly forgotten until the rediscovery of contemporary records in the early 20th-century.

Event

The earthquake is believed to have been caused by the

Lower Tagus Fault Zone Lower may refer to: * Lower (surname) * Lower Township, New Jersey *Lower Receiver (firearms) * Lower Wick Gloucestershire, England See also *Nizhny Nizhny (russian: Ни́жний; masculine), Nizhnyaya (; feminine), or Nizhneye (russian: Ни ...

, and was preceded by a pair of

foreshock A foreshock is an earthquake that occurs before a larger seismic event (the mainshock) and is related to it in both time and space. The designation of an earthquake as ''foreshock'', ''mainshock'' or aftershock is only possible after the full sequ ...

s on 2 January and 7 January. Damage to the city, especially the downtown area, was severe: approximately one-third of structures in the city were destroyed and 1,000 lives were lost in the initial shock. Contemporary reports tell of flooding near the

Tagus River The Tagus ( ; es, Tajo ; pt, Tejo ; see below) is the longest river in the Iberian Peninsula. The river rises in the Montes Universales near Teruel, in mid-eastern Spain, flows , generally west with two main south-westward sections, to ...

, ships being thrown onto rocks, and others grounded on the river's floor as the water retreated. Miranda ''et al.'' conclude that "these observations are coherent with the existence of a large change in the estuary seafloor, either tectonic displacement or a landslide."

Aftermath

Augsburger Wunderzeichenbuch — Folio 119

The earthquake was followed by several strong aftershocks, and fear of another earthquake was intense. Mass hysteria accompanied by all-manner of religious demonstrations (donations, pilgrimages, sermons, etc.) were felt through the Kingdom. The events that followed are closely compared to those following the 1755 earthquake, from the King taking refuge in tents, in Palmela, to the religious and civil repercussions and the response of the State. Quickly after the tremor rumors spread, apparently encouraged by the friars of Santarém, that the disaster was divine punishment (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

: "Ira Dei"- Wrath of God) and that the

Jewish community Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

was to blame. Poet and playwright

Gil Vicente Gil Vicente (; c. 1465c. 1536), called the Trobadour, was a Portuguese playwright and poet who acted in and directed his own plays. Considered the chief dramatist of Portugal he is sometimes called the "Portuguese Plautus," often re ...

, who was present in that city during the quake, reportedly personally defused the situation while scolding the friars for their fear-mongering in a powerfully written letter to King John III, and possibly averting a massacre of Jews and recent converts to Christianity.

Rediscovery

The 1531 earthquake, alongside the 1321 earthquake, had been largely forgotten until the early 20th century.Gonçalves, Victor Pereira. (27 de janeiro de 2004). "Que a terra não trema". Público. In 1909, a Portuguese newspaper reported the discovery of an unsigned manuscript of eyewitness accounts of the disaster. In 1919, a four-page letter addressed to the Marquis of Tarifa was found in a Lisbon bookshop, which appeared to describe the earthquake. Sousa's 1919 investigation of the

1755 Lisbon earthquake The 1755 Lisbon earthquake, also known as the Great Lisbon earthquake, impacted Portugal, the Iberian Peninsula, and Northwest Africa on the morning of Saturday, 1 November, Feast of All Saints, at around 09:40 local time. In combination wit ...

provided more evidence for the 1531 event, particularly his compilation of answers to the

Marquis of Pombal Count of Oeiras () was a Portuguese title of nobility created by a royal decree, dated July 15, 1759, by King Joseph I of Portugal, and granted to Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, head of the Portuguese government. Later, through another roya ...

's survey in the wake of the 1755 disaster, which included a question about previous earthquakes.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:1531 Lisbon Earthquake Earthquakes in Portugal History of Lisbon Lisbon Earthquake, 1531 Lisbon Lisbon