Lisbon Earthquake Research Articles

Staying Optimistic: The Trials and Tribulations of Leibnizian Optimism

The oft-told story of Leibniz’s doctrine of the best world, or optimism, is that it enjoyed a great deal of popularity in the eighteenth century until the massive earthquake that struck Lisbon on 1 November 1755 destroyed its support. Despite its long history, this story is nothing more than a commentators’ fiction that has become accepted wisdom not through sheer weight of evidence but through sheer frequency of repetition. In this paper we shall examine the reception of Leibniz’s doctrine of the best world in the eighteenth century in order to get a clearer understanding of what its fate really was. As we shall see, while Leibniz’s doctrine did win a good number of adherents in the 1720s and 1730s, especially in Germany, support for it had largely dried up by the mid-1740s; moreover, while opponents of Leibniz’s doctrine were few and far between in the 1710s and 1720s, they became increasing vocal in the 1730s and afterwards, between them producing an array of objections that served to make Leibnizian optimism both philosophically and theologically toxic years before the Lisbon earthquake struck.

Lizbon Felaketi Üzerine Şiir

The poem called Poeme sur le desastre de Lisbonne, written by Voltaire in 1755 and published in 1756 deals with the Lisbon earthquake that took place in 1755. This earthquake had a profound impact on the European thinkers of that age. Voltaire, Rousseau, Kant and important theologians of that age have put forward ideas about the possible causes of the earthquake. Philosophers such as Voltaire –and Kant– opposed this idea in the face of the theologians who saw the earthquake as a righteous punishment for the sins of mankind. Voltaire criticizes the understanding of theodicy in this poem written right after the earthquake. However, Voltaire fires his arrows of criticism, especially to Leibniz and Pope’s theological-optimistic viewpoints. In this context, he criticizes the idea of ‘All is well’ or ‘everything that is connected with goodness in God’s great plan’.

Lichenometric dating of coseismic rockfall related to the Great Lisbon Earthquake in 1755 affecting the archaeological site of “Tolmo de Minateda” (Spain)

Lichenometric dating of coseismic rockfall related to the Great Lisbon Earthquake in 1755 affecting the archaeological site of “Tolmo de Minateda” (Spain)

An historical perspective on community resilience: The case of the 1755 Lisbon Earthquake

The study of community resilience—that is, of the ability of a community to anticipate, respond to, and recover from sudden or slow onset shocks—traces its origins to the earliest days of contemporary disaster research. In recent decades, conceptual frameworks—and precise empirical indicators—of community resilience have entered the literature for purposes of reducing disaster vulnerability at the community level. Given the long arc of research on community resilience, however, it is appropriate to address the extent to which contemporary frameworks apply beyond the particular circumstances within which they were created. To this end, this study offers a productive critique of a contemporary framework of community resilience, using data from a community impact survey conducted following the so-called Lisbon earthquake of 1755. This event, the largest earthquake in recorded European history, was the catalyst for a wide range of innovations in disaster management, yet data from the survey have yet to be explored in English-language scholarship. Through the analysis of these data, this study creates a broader historical frame around current conceptualizations of community resilience, simultaneously identifying limitations of current frameworks as well as potential sources of community resilience that lie outside the historical scope of contemporary investigations.

Paleomagnetic, rock magnetic and geochemical study of the 1755 tsunami deposit at Boca do Rio (Algarve, Portugal)

A multiproxy study combining paleomagnetic, rock magnetic (magnetic susceptibility; anhysteretic remanent magnetization, ARM; isothermal remanent magnetization, IRM, anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility, AMS) and geochemical (XRF) data was carried out on trench sediments collected in the area of Boca do Rio (Algarve, South Portugal) known to have been stricken by a tsunami wave related to the 1755 Lisbon earthquake. The magnetic mineral assemblage is dominated by multidomain ferrimagnetic grains with a significant contribution (5–9%) of ultra-fine magnetic particles related to the presence of pedogenetic magnetite. The variable amount of this post-depositional magnetite plays a role on the characteristic remanent magnetization (ChRM) of the sediment. The primary magnetization recorded at T1, located farthest from the coast, is representative of the paleosecular variation of the Earth's magnetic field and a comparison of the results with the regional model for the geomagnetic field in Europe (SCHA.DIF.3K) was used to constrain the erosional signature of the tsunami layer. The result indicates that less than eighty years could be missing in the sedimentary column. The eroded sediment (thickness 27–40 cm) was incorporated in the tsunami layer that is characterized by a low magnetic content and a large increase in the Ca content representing allochthonous material.Sedimentological, geochemical, magnetic and AMS data show that the signature of the tsunami layer reflects at least two waves with an erosive capacity that is controlled by the distance from the shore.

Natural disasters written in historical woods: Floods, a thunderbolt fire and an earthquake

Abstract The present paper analyzes different types of natural disasters recorded in the woody elements from reconstruction or repair works in two World Heritage buildings (the Old Mint and the Cathedral) in Segovia (Central Spain). We employed architectural and historical documentation, along with archaeoseismological analysis techniques in order to frame the events and processes. We analyzed several woody elements from the wooden deck of the Old Mint, including beams, planks and support blocks; and for the Cathedral roof the structural elements analyzed were tiebeams, raised aisles, rafter braces, common rafters and roof battens, as well as many planks and soulaces. For the dating, we combined two methodological approaches based upon dendrochronological techniques (dendroarchaeology and dendrogeomorphology) in an integrated study of the tree-rings series obtained. Furthermore, four wood samples (one from the Old Mint and three from the Cathedral) were dated by means of radiocarbon techniques. The results enable us to detect and corroborate the dates of at least two catastrophic flood events that affected the Old Mint (1695 and 1733). Additionally, we establish the unknown effects to date upon the Cathedral roof of the fire caused by the thunderbolt in 1614 and by the Lisbon earthquake in 1755. From the point of view of cultural heritage, these data are of great interest for the history of the reconstruction of the Old Mint and of the Cathedral of Segovia.

An improved model for seismic risk assessment in Portugal

PurposePortugal experienced very destructive earthquakes in the past, such as the well-known “Lisbon earthquake” in 1755. With such in mind, accurate estimates of human and economic losses can play a significant role in providing various societal key players with objective information for response strategies. This paper aims to present the contribution of the most recent study in Portugal (PRISE) concerning comprehensive seismic risk assessment, which can be used as good practice and reproduced in different contexts.Design/methodology/approachPRISE (earthquake loss assessment of the Portuguese building stock) covered three main lines of research, corresponding to the three components typically considered in any seismic risk assessment study: the characterization of the seismic hazard, the identification of the exposure to earthquakes and loss potential and the vulnerability of the exposed assets. Each of these components has been fully characterized through the collection of census and local data (exposure), used to carry out nonlinear analysis (hazard and fragility).FindingsBy involving different research institutions and partners with extensive knowledge and expertise in the earthquake domains, the developed model is capable of producing economic and human earthquake loss estimates in real time (through an innovative Web-based platform) or for specific event scenarios, considering exposed population, residential and industrial buildings. The platform uses open-source tools and hence, it can be reproduced in other countries or contexts.Research limitations/implicationsResearch wise, the hazard, vulnerability and exposure models can still be significantly improved, e.g. by adding critical infrastructure (hospitals, school buildings and bridges) or updating the nonlinear models, for more accurate loss predictions.Practical implicationsThe findings and loss estimates for different earthquake scenarios show that planned interventions are required. Decision-makers and other relevant stakeholders (Civil Protection) can make use of the developed platform to produce specific estimates, to test the effect of different retrofitting interventions or to plan for emergency scenarios.Originality/valueA real-time Web-based framework to estimate building damage and economic/human losses because of seismic events has been developed, aiming to provide the Portuguese Civil Protection and other playmakers with a unique platform for planning and preparing for emergency scenarios.

The Best of all Possible Worlds? Challenging Patriarchy in Fernán Caballero's "“La flor de las ruinas"

The Best of all Possible Worlds?Challenging Patriarchy in Fernán Caballero's "“La flor de las ruinas" Megan L. Kelly From Leibnitz learn we not by what unseenBonds, in this best of all imagined worlds,Endless disorder, chaos of distress,Must mix our little pleasures thus with pain;Nor why the guiltless suffer all this woeIn common with the most abhorrent guilt.'T is mockery to tell me all is well.Voltaire, "Poem on the Lisbon Disaster" (1756) The short fiction of Fernán Caballero, penname adopted by Cecilia Böhl de Faber (1796–1877), is principally praised for its costumbrista depictions of the Spanish countryside and the local traditions native to it, in which Caballero "archiv[a] el recuerdo de lo que va a morir" (Montesinos 34). While these traditional landscapes largely portray Andalusia, "La flor de las ruinas" (1857) strikingly depicts the picturesque promenades and crumbling ruins of early nineteenth-century Lisbon.1 This relación commands critical attention not only for this departure from the paradigmatic Andalusian setting, but because the focal point of the Lisbon cityscape is the untouched ruins of the disastrous earthquake that leveled the city in 1755. To be sure, the description of the ruined city conforms to Caballero's approach to costumbrismo. It is a picture of nostalgia that condemns incipient modernity, a vision of deterioration frozen in time that goes unnoticed by the hurried passersby, whom Caballero describes as separated from the 1755 catastrophe "por lo que anonada y destruye más que la muerte, que es el olvido" (205). Critics cite a "curiosidad fotográfica" (Herrero, Nuevo 292) as the genesis of the costumbrista depictions, and have pinpointed numerous [End Page 243] destinations in Böhl de Faber's European tour of 1836 as the model for atypical settings, such the description of an English home in "Lady Virginia" (1857).2 Javier Herrero deduces that "en La flor de las ruinas hallamos una descripción de Lisboa que debe pertenecer a las cartas de ese viaje," a speculation that, while probable, fails to examine the extent to which the remarkable specificity of the Portuguese setting frames the action that Caballero sets among the ruins (Nuevo 299). While abandoned ruins afford a unique opportunity for an elaborate description, it is the existential ramifications of this natural disaster that provide the important lens with which to read the story. The Lisbon earthquake of 1755 constitutes a philosophical watershed in that it challenged the reigning belief in the omnipotence and benevolence of God that Gottfried Leibniz had famously envisioned in Théodicée (1709). Leibniz posited that mankind thrives under the optimal conditions that, despite the existence of evil, were created by a perfect and knowing God. He asserts: "God, having chosen the most perfect of all possible worlds, had been prompted by his wisdom to permit the evil which was bound up with it, but which still did not prevent this world from being, all things considered, the best that could be chosen" (68). This image of an infinitely wise and benevolent God proved discordant and absurd to the writers that chronicled the destruction caused by the Lisbon earthquake, which struck on All Saint's Day, when many of its 275,000 residents were attending church services. Tens of thousands of people perished, both during the initial quake, and as a result of an ensuing tsunami, widespread fires, and a series of five hundred aftershocks that occurred during the following nine months.3 The thriving city was devastated, and according to Russell Dynes, only three thousand of the twenty thousand dwellings remained habitable after the quake (39). The events of the Lisbon earthquake figure prominently in Voltaire's Candide, or Optimism (1759), a novella that ridicules the notion that we inhabit the best of all possible worlds. In it, Voltaire takes the naïve Candide on an enlightening journey in which he faces the inevitability of evil in the world, helplessly watching it befall his travelling companions. Candide, a "youth, endowed by Nature with the most gentle character [. . .] extremely simple-minded," and his optimistic tutor Pangloss are shipwrecked in Lisbon shortly after the earthquake strikes (3). Confronted with...

Кант в споре с крузианцами об оптимизме

In this article, which completes a two-part series on the problem of optimism in Kant’s works, I explore in detail the arguments advanced by the Crusians A. F. Reinhard and D. Weymann against the actual world as the best of all possible worlds and in favour of the actual world as one of the good worlds, Kant’s counterarguments put forward in the mid-1750s drafts and in An Attempt at Some Reflections on Optimism (1759), and further polemical attacks on this topic against Kant by D. Weymann in his works of 1759—1760. I trace the evolution of Kant’s views on optimism from the mid- to the late-1750s, when this concept — once characteristic of the partly unacceptable position that G. W. Leibniz defended in the Theodicy — came to describe Kant’s own views. Leaving aside Voltaire’s resonating works on the Lisbon earthquake, the generic opponent to Kant’s position is an amalgam of Crusians (C. A. Crusius, A. F. Reinhard, D. Weymann, and others), reduced to a caricature with regards to certain theses. I address Weymann’s polemic with Kant to show that, in the pre-critical period, the early Kant advocated beliefs in sphere of practical philosophy that he later radically changed in the critical period, in particular those with regards to freedom and human dignity. The obvious bias of most Kantian scholars against Kant’s opponents prevented researchers from seeing the validity of Weymann’s criticism of Kant for ignoring the problem of freedom. To prove his point, Weymann addressed the difference between the freedom of contradiction (libertas contradictionis) and the freedom of contrariety (libertas contrarietatis). Apparently, Kant himself noticed to a certain degree the validity of Weymann’s criticism, since, after 1759, he abandoned the term “optimism” and, in his later years, distanced himself from his early work An Attempt at Some Reflections on Optimism.

Dissonant Harmonies: Tolkien's Musical Theodicy

Dissonant Harmonies:Tolkien's Musical Theodicy Chiara Bertoglio (bio) At the heart of what it means to be a human being are crucial questions which have given birth to all philosophy: where does the world come from? What is the origin of evil? Why are suffering and death part of our world? Human beings of all times and places have tried to provide many answers to these fundamental problems, and several of these answers are deeply intertwined with religious beliefs. Indeed, once the existence of one or more divine beings is posited, these questions may take a more direct and almost defiant shape: if there is an omnipotent and benevolent being, why is the existence of evil tolerated? And why is there such a thing as evil in the first instance? Facing this terrible question, one possible answer is the one we have come to identify with Manichaeism, but which is present in several religions and philosophies, regularly surfacing across time and space: the benign divine being is not absolutely omnipotent, but has to contend continually with one (or more) equally divine beings who are entirely evil (or who have some traits we identify as evil, such as bellicosity). Thus, history is seen as the battlefield between the good and evil powers, and human beings frequently represent the (innocent) casualties of this divine war. The Christian response to the problem of evil and suffering is both simple and complex. It is simple, since it is primarily in the form of an icon, that of the crucified and risen Christ, whose paschal mystery embodies—in a surprising and powerful fashion—both the goodness and the omnipotence of God; it is complex since, beyond this immediate and visible answer, it admits several (and sometimes deeply different) philosophical or theological accounts of how God's benevolence and omnipotence are shown in Christ's Passion and resurrection. One of the most compelling theological explanations of the origin of evil is that of St. Augustine, who, indeed, worked out his philosophical and spiritual theology precisely in response to—and against—the Manichaean view, to which he had himself previously adhered. By this account (very simplistically summarized here), "evil" is in fact a non-entity, a non-being; it is to Being what darkness is to [End Page 93] light, i.e. a lack of goodness.1 To materialize or personalize evil is, for Augustine, to fall into the Manichean heresy. Augustine's view, though enormously influential in the history of Christian thought and of Western philosophy in general, was, however, by no means the only response to the problem of evil. Indeed, several theologies which acknowledged their common origin in his thought ended up with intensely divergent results. With the advent of modernity, in particular, the need started to be felt for a theodicy, a formal vindication of God. Events such as the Lisbon earthquake of 1755 constituted an intellectual and emotional scandal for the culture of their time, and prompted some of the most prominent thinkers to cite God in the tribunal of reason, asking Him to account for the unaccountable suffering of many innocents. Though theodicy frequently assumed the form of an ex-officio defense of God's will, it also implicitly admitted human beings' right to challenge God on the ground of the problem of evil. While this move is theologically problematic, since created beings are by definition incapable of comprehending the fullness of the mystery of God, it has however an authoritative precedent in the Bible itself, where Job, a righteous man, requires from God an explanation for his suffering. The theodicies of Job's friends, which constitute a great part of the eponymous book, are ultimately discarded by God Himself, who reveals His glory to Job. This Old Testament book is therefore doubly fascinating in the effective dialectic between the overall narrative and the speeches: on the one hand, God seems to accept the challenge of suffering human beings, and indeed is more favourable to Job's protest rather than to his friends' well-meaning justifications of God (Job 42:7). On the other hand, God's response to Job is an assertion of His omnipotence and of the inscrutable...

El Terremoto de Lisboa de 1 de noviembre de 1755

The 1755 earthquake of November 1, also called the Lisbon Earthquake for being the main city that suffered its multiple effects: earthquake, tsunami and fire. However, the affected area was very extensive, could be estimated at ten million square kilometres. The movement of the soil caused much damage in large parts of Spain, Portugal and Morocco, resulting in significant economic and social costs. The earthquake, with marine epicenter, also generated a noticeable alteration of the sea whose waves swept the Atlantic coasts of the Peninsula and North Africa. Also, as with large earthquakes (8,5 Mw, Martinez Solares, 2001), most of the hydrogeological effects that can be produce in nature, from cracks in the field to liquefaction, also occurred.

God or Nature? Catastrophes and Modernity from Lisbon to Valparaíso

This article compares the Lisbon earthquake of 1755 with the Valparaíso earthquake of 1822. Connecting these two cases, I discuss how the decaying role of religious explanations for disaster is linked with increasing expectations for disaster response on the part of the state. This paradigm change started in both countries with the intellectual discussions following these two catastrophes. However, only in the case of Lisbon the debate was followed by an organized state response. In Chile, the government literally crumbled after the event. Nonetheless, the Valparaíso case shows that intellectual discussions about the origin of the earthquake were sufficient to explain a change of mentality and an incipient demand on the state for disaster response. Overall, this research shows that ideas do matter and that events such as catastrophes can deeply influence how ideas change.

Natural hazards and building history: Roof structures of Segovia cathedral (Spain) reveal its history through tree-ring research

Combined dendrochronological and archival research revealed the history of construction and subsequent repairs to the roof structures of Segovia Cathedral, the last gothic cathedral built in Spain. Although this iconic building has been extensively documented by different scholars, the completion date of the 16th century original sacristy was uncertain. Furthermore, disaster struck the building on two occasions, in the 17th and 18th centuries. First, on September 1614, lightning hit the bell tower and fire spread through the roof of the nave. Then, on 1 November 1755, the Lisbon earthquake shook the cathedral building. However, the extent of the damage caused by these events was unknown.Our combined research revealed that the trees used to make the tie-beams of the sacristy were cut in the late summer/winter months of 1676/77, one century later than the completion date, suggesting that this part of the original sacristy was renewed when a new one was built together with the offices in an annexed building. Furthermore, absolute dates obtained for the nave indicate that the trees used to build the current roof structure were cut in the autumn/winter of 1614/15, which implies that the 16th century original roof must have burned down entirely due to the lightning fire. A historical document registering the purchase of the wood to repair this structure in 1614 confirms this information. Finally, the damage caused by the Lisbon earthquake must have compromised the structural integrity of the roof, as the support timbers used to reinforce it belong to small trees cut in the spring or summer of that same year 1755. Archival research revealed that the roofs were inspected a few weeks after the earthquake, and that repairs were carried out in 1756. This suggests that the wood to prop up the structure was most likely purchased shortly after the inspection (probably in a nearby saw mill where cheap wood from trees cut in the summer of 1755 was available), and before the repairs took place.

Sand Scripts of Past Tsunamis in Coastal Ponds of St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands

ABSTRACT Five unusual overwash deposits within four coastal ponds and a mangrove site on St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, may be the telltale signs of tsunamis. The estimated ages and locations of the deposits suggest that the tsunamis originated from different offshore sources. These deposits were found during a reconnaissance‐level study on St. Thomas and adjacent cays located near the eastern end of the Greater Antilles volcanic arc, 60 km east of Puerto Rico and 150 km south of the Puerto Rico trench. The study sites occur within the narrow coastal zone in an otherwise high‐relief setting. The unusual deposits, distinct from the pond sediment, including six other overwash deposits similar to other known tsunami deposits, are composed of mixed lithic and carbonate sands, and hypersaline and marine shells, contain coral boulders and fragments, exhibit sharp or erosive lower contacts, and, in some cases, are capped by mud. Beach berms that front the sites are 1–2 m above mean sea level, composed of coral and lithic cobble‐size fragments as well as coarse, mixed‐composition sand, appear to be a source of the likely tsunami deposits. On the basis of sediment stratigraphy and radiocarbon dating, age estimates of the deposits suggest five tsunamis in the past 3000 years, two of which fall within date ranges of likely tsunami deposits identified on Anegada, British Virgin Islands, located 70 km northeast of St. Thomas. Findings of this reconnaissance‐level study suggest that the unusual overwash deposits on St. Thomas may be related to the 1867 tsunami triggered by an M ∼7.3 earthquake in the Anegada Passage, the 1755 trans‐Atlantic tsunami triggered by the M 8.5 Lisbon earthquake, a tsunami between A.D. 1200 and 1450 first recognized on Anegada, extending its known area of impact farther to the southwest, and possibly two earlier events between 2000 and 3000+ years ago.

Micro-seismicity in the Gulf of Cadiz: Is there a link between micro-seismicity, high magnitude earthquakes and active faults?

The Gulf of Cadiz seismicity is characterized by persistent low to intermediate magnitude earthquakes, occasionally punctuated by high magnitude events such as the M~8.7 1755 Great Lisbon earthquake and the M=7.9 event of February 28th, 1969. Micro-seismicity was recorded during 11months by a temporary network of 25 ocean bottom seismometers (OBSs) in an area of high seismic activity, encompassing the potential source areas of the mentioned large magnitude earthquakes. We combined micro-seismicity analysis with processing and interpretation of deep crustal seismic reflection profiles and available refraction data to investigate the possible tectonic control of the seismicity in the Gulf of Cadiz area. Three controlling mechanisms are explored: i) active tectonic structures, ii) transitions between different lithospheric domains and inherited Mesozoic structures, and iii) fault weakening mechanisms. Our results show that micro-seismicity is mostly located in the upper mantle and is associated with tectonic inversion of extensional rift structures and to the transition between different lithospheric/rheological domains. Even though the crustal structure is well imaged in the seismic profiles and in the bathymetry, crustal faults show low to negligible seismic activity. A possible explanation for this is that the crustal thrusts are thin-skinned structures rooting in relatively shallow sub-horizontal décollements associated with (aseismic) serpentinization levels at the top of the lithospheric mantle. Therefore, co-seismic slip along crustal thrusts may only occur during large magnitude events, while for most of the inter-seismic cycle these thrusts remain locked, or slip aseismically. We further speculate that high magnitude earthquake's ruptures may only nucleate in the lithospheric mantle and then propagate into the crust across the serpentinized layers.

Cataloguing tsunami events in the UK

Abstract Tsunami catalogues provide important datasets in assessing the risk from infrequent but potentially high-impact events. Although the UK is located away from subduction zones (the most common origin of tsunamis), tsunamis have struck its shores, most notably those triggered by the prehistoric Storegga submarine landslide and the 1755 Lisbon earthquake. Since the major events of 2004 (Indian Ocean) and 2011 (Japan) tsunamis are in the public psyche, even if the risks to UK coasts are not. Due to this heightened awareness, many reported events are claimed to be tsunamis and the potential for tsunamis is increasingly included in risk planning; understanding the true frequency of tsunamis is therefore important. Within the UK, the evidence for tsunamis includes tide gauge readings, reported visual observations and interpretation of sedimentological features. Catalogues need to consider whether the event is a true tsunami in order to avoid a plethora of claims that confound risk assessments; for example, recent well-documented events generated by weather systems (meteotsunamis) provide a possible explanation for some historical events. A detailed examination of the impact of tsunamis upon the UK coast is provided, including examples of events triggered by the three primary causes of tsunamis: seismicity, submarine landslides and coastal landslides.

Which fault destroyed Fes city (Morocco) in 1755? A new insight from the Holocene deformations observed along the southern border of Gibraltar arc

In this paper, we present the first estimate of the Holocene deformation along the southern front of Gibraltar arc (Morocco) and the first field constraints on the local 1755CE Fes-Meknes surface rupturing earthquake which could be associated to the “Great Lisbon Earthquake” (M>8.5) in November 1st, 1755. Using satellite imagery, aerial photographs and field investigations, we carried out a morphotectonic study along the ~150km-long Southern Rif Front (SRF) to identify the most recent evidences of tectonic activity. Analyzed offset alluvial deposits confirm that (i) the last ~5ka cumulative deformation leading to a slip rate of ~3.5±1mm/yr for this segment of the SRF is consistent with the GPS derived horizontal shortening rate of 2–4mm/yr and (ii) a recent major earthquake ruptured a~30km-long segment along the SRF. Based on deposits dating and historical seismicity we propose that this seismic event occurred in 1755 as a local earthquake. Even though this 1755 local event cannot be considered as a strong aftershock of the main Lisbon seismic event (M>8.5), their temporal closeness, their occurrence under the same convergent stress regime (~NNW-SSE-oriented compression) and the fact that Fes-Meknes area was strongly shaken during the Lisbon earthquake, raises the question of the possible triggering of the Fes earthquake. Anyway, our new results suggest that most of the Nubia-Rif belt convergence is accommodated by the SRF, making it potentially the most destructive structure of the Rif.

What happens to the boats? The 1755 Lisbon earthquake and Portuguese tsunami literacy

In A.D. 1755, an earthquake destroyed Lisbon, Portugal. The region was then hit forcefully by a tsunami and engulfed by an enormous fire. Thefts and destruction followed, damaging emblematic places of irreplaceable historical and spiritual value, especially churches. The occurrence of the 1755 Lisbon earthquake remains known by the eldest, but it has been forgotten and even unheard of by younger generations. Over the last decade there has been a considerable increase in the research, involving geologists, seismologists, and oceanographers, so as to better understand the processes and the complexity of seismic risks and tsunamis. However, little has been done to inform the population and policy makers about the options available to them to better prevent and respond to earthquake disasters. The main aim of this study is to evaluate the Portuguese citizens’ scientific literacy regarding tsunamis and to analyze their knowledge related to the 1755 earthquake. For this purpose, we conducted 206 structured interviews in a public place, and asked the general public to collaborate. At the beginning of the interviews people were shown a previously drawn scenario showing a tsunami epicenter and three boats in different places of the ocean. The sample comprised 107 females (52%) and 99 males (48%) (ages ranged from 12 to 85). The interviews were conducted by two members of the research team and were audiotaped for a better and more reliable transcription. Content analysis was subsequently established with the help of the QSR International NVivo 10 qualitative data analysis software package (www​.qsrinternational​.com​/nvivo​-product). Results showed that there is a wide lack of knowledge regarding tsunamis, including those that occurred in the past, and the majority of interviewees recognized the need to know more about these issues. This evidence indicates the importance of including these historical and social and scientific issues in geosciences programs, giving more relevance to teaching seismic risks, their prevention, and possible responses.

Atlantic Disaster: Boston Responds to the Cape Ann Earthquake of 1755

This article examines religious, scientific, and media responses to the 1755 Cape Ann earthquake, which affected Boston and other regions throughout the Atlantic world. The earthquake's prolonged generation of environmental data challenged American colonists' attempts to achieve certainty about the natural disaster. Further news of the famous and devastating Lisbon earthquake forced Americans to broaden their horizon of environmental change to one that extended into the ocean–a formative moment for the development of transatlantic science, and one that can help historians resolve seemingly opposed historiographic currents.

The return of the Casa dos Bicos, Lisbon, 1983

The intervention in Casa dos Bicos (‘House of Spikes’), in Lisbon, is a transposition of Manuel Vicente’s work in Macau, a territory under Portuguese administration until 1999, now an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. From 1963 to the 1990s, Manuel Vicente designed a set of unique buildings in Macau, a practice interrupted between 1968 and 1969 when he worked with Louis Kahn. The Casa dos Bicos can be seen as in continuity with Vicente’s experience in Macau, which helps to explain the controversy it generated in the 1980s. The 1755 Lisbon Earthquake damaged the Casa dos Bicos (1521/1523) and only two of the original four floors survived. The 1983 intervention restored its façade and introduced elements of contemporary architecture. The ‘spikes’ façade was remade based on a panel of eighteenth-century azulejos (blue-glazed tiles). However, the interior is a fictionalisation of the old city, a mediaevalist figuration intersected with expressionist references in an exercise of fearless post-modernism: a fable with a monumental staircase, arches, alleys and small openings, which are intended to disorient and conceal. Thus the Casa dos Bicos is not a ‘repositioning’, neither does it opt for the morality of distinguishing the new from the old. In this inaccuracy it is radically post-modern. It disqualifies authenticity, preferring a refined set of mirrors. The façade is a replica, where the free historicism of the window frames conveys a spectral dissonance; the interior consists of ‘lights and shadows’; the ‘curtain wall’ on the rear façade has a provisional character that refers to buildings in Macau. The temporal fluency and the spatial randomness display a free enjoyment of history, equivalent to an ‘historical novel’ or perhaps a Hollywood film based on a true story. Here, the ‘presence of the past’ is not only a slogan, but a reality turned into a fantasy.