JK - PORTUGAL: The Great Lisbon Earthquake

 The Great Lisbon Earthquake of 1755

• very large quake on Nov 1, 1755
• many were in church for the celebration of All Saints day, most of the churchs' arched stone roofs collapsed killing a lot of people.
• estimated that 30-40 thousand people died in Lisbon
• After the quake the king ordered his architects to work on devising better building techniques
• scale models were built and then troops were marched around them to simulate an earthquake.
• the design called the "Pombal Cage" involved embedding wooden cross-bracing in the brick and plaster walls and is considered one of the first seismic design methods.

The photos show our Lisbon AirBnB. When the unit was renovated they exposed some of the original wall structure. You can see the wooden cross-bracing that has been filled with brick and mortar.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

John of No Fixed Address

(Guest Contributor)