The first day of November 1755 was the Christian holy day of All Saints Day, and it began as any regular day. As a heavily Catholic country, much of the population began their day by attending mass. At 9.40 am, the ground began tremble and after a short interval it trembled again, this time much stronger. A British tradesman wrote that the movement made it difficult to stand up and that his house fell down around him as he heard the entire neighborhood screaming and crying.

Many of the earthquake survivors went to the port in an attempt to escape from Lisbon by boat. But the water provided no safety. One hour later after the earthquake Lisbon was hit by a huge tsunami. The captain of an English boat anchored in the river Tejo reported that he saw three massive waves 16 feet or 5 meters high hit the waterfront within five minutes. The water destroyed boats, docks and century-old buildings and overwhelmed the helpless people gathered at the waterfront seeking escape from Lisbon. As if a tsunami and earthquake wasn't enough, the city soon caught fire from the broken chimneys of the houses which were aided by an increasingly stronger wind to spread sparks to more areas of the city. Bandits took advantage of the confusion and set some additional buildings on fire to steal during the chaos. The city burned for five to six days, continuing the destruction of the city.

To understand the magnitude of the disaster, Lisbon at this time was one of the biggest cities in Europe. It had population of about 250.000 citizens and 20.000 houses. It has been estimated that 85% of the houses and hundreds of buildings such as libraries, hospitals, churches and palaces were destroyed. No one knows exactly how Sunset cruise lisbon many people died. Some historians estimate that 30,000 people or over 10% of the population may have died from the earthquake, water and fire. Of the twelve neighborhoods that made up Lisbon at this time, the fire completely destroyed three and large parts of another four neighborhoods. The earthquake itself also caused severe damage in Spain and Morocco and was felt as far as Venice, Italy. The tsunami's effects were felt even farther. Waves up to two meters or 6 feet high were reported) in the Bahamas. If you venture to the coast near Lisbon, you can still find huge rocks thrown up to 50 meters inland by the tsunami. Scientists are still searching for the exact location of the epicenter of the quake. The estimate of the possible magnitude of the quake varies from 8.5 to 9.5 on the Richter scale. For a comparison with a modern day earthquake, the earthquake that caused the devastating tsunami in the Indian Ocean in December 2004 measured 9.3 on the Richter scale.

Immediately after this tragic event, Lisbon was consumed by panic and chaos. Not even the king, Dom José I, knew what to do.

Fortunately for the king and for all of Lisbon, Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, later to known as the Marquês de Pombal, rose to the challenge. Born in Lisbon in 1699 and the oldest of 12 siblings, he was at the time of the earthquake the Minister of Foreign Affairs and War and had earlier worked as ambassador in London and as conflict solver in Vienna. Based on his previous work for the King and his natural administrative skills, the king gave him his full confidence and vast power to rebuild Lisbon. Soon the Marquês' plans were set in motion. His very first order, which has become an infamous expression, demonstrated both his practicality and the vast confusion that gripped Lisbon.

"Bury the dead and feed the living".

These simple orders were actually huge tasks. To bury the dead meant in fact to get rid of the bodies as soon as possible to prevent epidemics. The bodies were gathered from throughout the city. Most got dumped in the sea or burned without any funeral ceremonies. But recently, archeologists have found a mass grave with about 3000 corpses in the cloisters of a Franciscan convent. To feed the living, the government started distributing food to the citizens and fixed prices and salaries. Forces to prevent public disorder, looting and violence were installed. Thieves as well as catastrophe prophets, people who preached that Lisbon was soon to suffer another catastrophe, were thrown in prison. Of these, 34 people, 23 of them foreigners, were sentenced to death and hung.

Part of the rebuilding effort included an inquiry with thirteen questions that was sent out to all parishes in the country. This inquiry, the first of its kind, gave the government a better idea of what had been destroyed and how they best could help their people. This inquiry has been of great help for modern-day researchers studying the earthquake.

While rebuilding Lisbon, water systems were drained, streets were cleaned, and buildings, streets and squares were measured. Manuel da Maia, a nearly 80 years old military engineer working for the king, proposed five different plans for reconstructing Lisbon. The most radical proposed plan was to abandon Lisbon and rebuild the capital from scratch in a totally different location. Finally the Marquês de Pombal selected one of the five plans which was approved by the king, Dom José I, and became the Lisbon that you see today.