January 28, 1551 Earthquake: Lisbon, Portugal
An earthquake struck Lisbon, Portugal on January 28, 1551. It killed 2,000 people.
Map
Where it struck, with the other significant earthquakes within 200 km. Circles are sized and colored by magnitude; select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Date
- January 28, 1551
- Place
- Lisbon, Portugal
- Intensity
- 9 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 38.700° N, 9.100° W
- Country
- Portugal
The toll
- Deaths
- 2,000
- Damage
- Severe (about $5 to $25 million)
- Houses destroyed
- 200
- Houses damaged
- 200
Where the literature gives no number, NCEI records a description on a scale of 1 to 4, printed here in its words. Damage is in millions of US dollars of the year of the event, not adjusted for inflation.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
January 28, 1551, Lisbon, Portugal, 200 houses thrown drown, intensity II which corresponds to buildings may be unroofed or shattered and some may fall, the
ground may be badly cracked in places and small landslips occur. (reference #1055)
January 28, 1551, Lisbon, Portugal, 200 houses were thrown down and more than 2,000 persons killed. (reference #516)
January 28, 1551, Lisbon, Portugal, intensity 9.5, 200 houses destroyed and more than 2,000 persons killed. (reference #1093)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- January 26, 1531, Lisbon, Portugal
- 1151, Lisbon, Portugal
- April 23, 1909, Ribatejo, Benavente, Portugal
- June 6, 1807, Lisbon, Portugal
- November 11, 1858, Setubal, Portugal
- March 6, 1719, Algarve, Spain, Portugal
- March 29, 1756, Lisbon, Portugal
- December 26, 1764, Lisbon, Portugal
- December 19, 1847, Lisbon, Portugal
- December 18, 1926, Lisbon, Portugal
- July 28, 1597, Monte Santo, Lisbon, Portugal
- July 22, 1598, Monte Santo, Lisbon, Portugal
- 1344, Lisbon, Portugal
- April 5, 1772, Lisbon, Portugal
- April 28, 1752, Buarcos, Aveiro, Portugal
More
Significant earthquakes of 1551The 1500sRecent earthquakes near hereThis day in weather history
Sources
Significant earthquakes from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Global Historical Hazard Database, cited as NCEI/WDS, doi:10.7289/V5PN93H7. Public domain. Read 2026-09-24. NCEI earthquake 724.