Lisbon Earthquake

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria · Category: Memory · Subcategory: Memory spaces · Year: 1755

The Lisbon earthquake of 1 November 1755 has been the most significant natural disaster suffered by Europe in historic times. It caused thousands of victims in Portugal, Spain, and North Africa, along with considerable economic damage. The Portuguese capital was almost wiped off the map both by the tremor and the subsequent tsunami. The epicentre of the earthquake was located on the seabed just over 200 kilometres southwest of Cape St. Vincent, where the Eurasian and African tectonic plates collided. The resulting tsunami fully affected the Atlantic coasts of the Iberian Peninsula, North Africa, part of the western Mediterranean, the Azores, Madeira, and there are even references that it was also felt in Brazil and the Antilles.

We have scant news about what happened in the Canary Islands as a consequence of this event. It seems evident that something must have occurred due to the islands' proximity to the epicentre, but what little we know is that, fortunately, it was not too serious. 

One of the places in the Archipelago where the earthquake was most felt was the city of Las Palmas. According to a brief report signed by the then Captain General of the Canaries Juan de Urbina, sent to the Minister of State Ricardo Wall, we know that “ On the island of Gran Canaria the same movement of the sea was experienced and the inhabitants of its main city were watching from the balconies and surroundings of the marina this sudden swelling of the waters at the same hour and with the greatest astonishment, and even more so when they saw that, after receding for eight or ten minutes, they returned with greater force over the untouched limits of the previous invasion, this great novelty was repeated up to three times on that island, but without disaster or other circumstance worthy of note …”

The inhabitants of Las Palmas watched in amazement the “swelling of the waters” and how the reflux of the great oceanic movement lasted for no less than about ten minutes, only for the sea to advance again further inland in three successive surges. Nevertheless, there were no personal tragedies to lament. As for material damage, it seems that the most affected area was the low coastal zone near La Isleta, where: "... the sea was seen entering and flooding the chapel there of Our Lady of the Light, and having receded like a pistol shot within its old limit, it uncovered the hull of a ship, of whose shipwreck there is no memory, and left the chapel full of fish " . 

In the rest of the Canary Islands the consequences were, in most cases, very mild. There were no personal injuries on any island, only material damage on the low northern-facing shores; such was the case of some salt pans located on the coast of Famara, in Lanzarote, which were completely ruined.

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