🌍 Portugal & Algarve Earthquakes

💡 Did you know?

• 1 November 1755: The Great Lisbon Earthquake (magnitude ~8.5–9.0) was followed by a tsunami that devastated the Algarve coast. Lagos, Faro, Portimão and Sagres were all severely damaged. It's one of the deadliest earthquakes in European history.
• You're sitting on a plate boundary: Southern Portugal lies on the Azores–Gibraltar fracture zone, where the African plate slides past the Eurasian plate. That's why the Golfo de Cádiz and Cabo S.Vicente areas show up so often in this list.
• Most quakes are tiny. IPMA's network detects events as small as magnitude 0. A 1.0 quake is roughly the energy of a hand grenade; you'd need at least magnitude 2.5–3.0 before humans typically feel anything.
• The "Gorringe Bank" visible offshore in the data is an underwater mountain ridge in the Atlantic, where the 1755 earthquake is thought to have originated.
• Modern Portugal is well-prepared: ANEPC (Civil Protection) runs tsunami warning systems on the coast. If you ever feel a strong, long earthquake near the sea, head inland and uphill immediately — don't wait for sirens.