December 21, 1755 Earthquake: Lisbon, Portugal
An earthquake struck Lisbon, Portugal on December 21, 1755 at 09:00 UTC. It killed 300 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
- December 21, 1755
- Time
- 09:00 UTC
- Place
- Lisbon, Portugal
- Intensity
- 8 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- Yes: the tsunami it caused
- Epicenter
- 37.000° N, 10.000° W
- Country
- Portugal
The toll
- Deaths
- 300
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 million)
- Houses destroyed
- Some (about 51 to 100)
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.
In Portugal fresh disasters were produced by the shocks of this day. More than 300 persons perished under the ruins of houses which were thrown down, or in the waters of the Tagus, which overflowed its banks. A league of country was submerged by the sea in Algarbia. The extremity of Carpe de la Bagne was carried away. The towns on the frontiers of Spain suffered least. (reference #496)
At about 9 an earthquake occurred in Lisbon, with two shakings of short duration but so violent that caused damage and ruin in the city. The Tagus overflowed. 300 people died in the rubbles and drowned in the waters of this river [. . . ] the realm of Algarve suffered a lot. At the coast the sea advanced one league. People at Spanish frontier suffered less [. . . ]”. Rodriguez (1932) quotes no original source for the information. (reference #4649)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- November 1, 1755, Lisbon, Portugal
- November 1587, Loule, Portugal
- February 28, 1969, Canary Is, Rabat, Sale, Spain, Portugal, Morocco
- November 11, 1858, Setubal, Portugal
- March 6, 1719, Algarve, Spain, Portugal
- January 12, 1856, Tavira, Algarve, Portugal
- August 24, 1356, Sevilla, Cordova, Lisbon, Spain, Portugal
- 210 BC, Cabo San Vicente, Portugal
- 60 BC, Cabo San Vicente, Portugal
- December 9, 1320, SW, Cabo San Vicente, Portugal
- 382, SW, Cabo San Vicente, Portugal
- 1344, Lisbon, Portugal
- April 5, 1772, Lisbon, Portugal
- 241 BC, Cadiz, Spain
More
Significant earthquakes of 1755The 1700sRecent 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 10548.