The disaster is a reminder that large segments of the world’s population are as vulnerable to major earthquakes today as they were centuries ago. In fact, the scenes in Turkey are tragically similar to those reported on Nov. 1, 1755, when a massive earthquake hit Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, at approximately 9:45 a.m. The Great Lisbon Earthquake, as it became known, was one of the most consequential quakes in modern history, and its story can shed light on the challenges survivors face today—practical, political and even philosophical. There were no reliable seismometers in the 18th century, but the Great Lisbon Earthquake is estimated at between 8.5 and 9.2 on the moment magnitude scale—at least five times stronger than the initial quake in Turkey, which registered 7.8. Like the earthquakes in Turkey, the Lisbon temblor came with little or no warning.

---