Lisbon earthquake 1755 Trivia Questions

The royal palace was heavily damaged, and King José I survived only because he was away on a hunting trip that morning.

The quake toppled buildings and candles, sparking fires that raged for nearly a week, worsened by rubble blocking water access.

Many earlier earthquakes were recorded in Europe, such as the 1693 Sicily earthquake; the 1755 quake was just exceptionally well-documented globally.

The earthquake struck around 9:40 AM on November 1, 1755, a Catholic holy day, collapsing churches and killing worshippers inside.

No volcano erupted nearby; the quake was tectonic, caused by movement along the Azores-Gibraltar Transform Fault, not volcanic activity.

The tsunami reached waves as high as 20 meters in Portugal and was observed in Barbados and other Caribbean islands hours later.

Voltaire wrote the 'Poem on the Lisbon Disaster,' but he actually used the quake to argue against the idea of a benevolent God and optimistic philosophy.

Pombal sent a questionnaire to parishes across Portugal asking about damage and timing, a pioneering step in earthquake science.