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<-- Biggest Tsunami Countdown #4 It is hardly surprising that #3 on our countdown was also triggered by a catastrophic earthquake...
At 9:30, on the morning of All Saints Day, the Portuguese city of Lisbon was rocked with an estimated 9 magnitude earthquake, (by today's Richter scale). The epicenter was west-southwest of Cape St. Vincent, located in the Atlantic Ocean. Three earthquake jolts which lasted a combined time of ten minutes, created large cracks in the earth up to 16 feet apart, tearing open the heart of Lisbon. Source: Wikipedia & Historical Depictions of the 1755 Lisbon Earthquake Nearly 30 minutes after the earthquake, a destructive tsunami hit the shores of Portugal, and rushed up the Tagus River. Two more tsunami waves followed, as people were swept out to sea, laying the land bare. In some places, the waves reached as high as 98 feet, (that's 30 meters high). Source: Wikipedia & Historical Depictions of the 1755 Lisbon Earthquake The destruction was almost complete. In Lisbon, eighty-five percent of its buildings had been destroyed, with fires that continued to rage for days. Over 100,000 people perished, forever changing the history of Europe... and the rest of the world. Source: Wikipedia & Historical Depictions of the 1755 Lisbon Earthquake
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