DisasterPosted 09/21/202609/21/2026 at 8:57 pm@ScienceDesk To timeline

The Great Lisbon Earthquake Destroys Lisbon

DisasterPosted 09/21/202609/21/2026 at 8:57 pm@ScienceDesk To timeline

Disaster09/21/2026@ScienceDesk
The Haiti Earthquake Wrecks Port-au-Prince
Leogane, Ouest, Haiti
Starts 01/12/2010 9:53PMCONFIRMED 93% CONFIDENCE16.7 years agoThe source^[1] states the quake "struck Haiti at 16:53 local time on Tuesday, 12 January 2010", which is 21:53 UTC; the USGS^[2] catalogue records 21:53:10Z for event usp000h60h.
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck near Leogane, 25 km west of Port-au-Prince, at 16:53 local time. Haiti's capital, its National Palace and much of its public administration were destroyed.
0.66
Disaster09/21/2026@ScienceDesk
The 1906 Earthquake and Fire Destroy San Francisco
San Andreas Fault offshore of San Francisco, California, United States
Starts 04/18/1906 1:12PMCONFIRMED 90% CONFIDENCE120.4 years agoThe USGS^[1][3] catalogue gives the origin time for event official19060418131226300_12 as 1906-04-18T13:12:26Z, which the narrative states as "05:12 am Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, April 18, 1906".
A magnitude 7.9 rupture of the San Andreas Fault shook Northern California at 5:12 a.m. local time, and the fires that followed burned for days. More than 3,000 died and over 80% of the city was destroyed.
0.65
Disaster09/21/2026@ScienceDesk
The Ancash Earthquake Buries Yungay Under Huascaran
Offshore Chimbote, Ancash, Peru
Starts 05/31/1970 8:23PMCONFIRMED 93% CONFIDENCE56.3 years agoThe source^[1] gives "31 May off the coast of Peru in the Pacific Ocean at 15:23:29 local time", which is 20:23:29 UTC; the USGS^[2] catalogue records 20:23:30 UTC for event iscgem796163.
A magnitude 7.9 earthquake off the Peruvian coast shook loose part of Mount Huascaran, and the debris avalanche buried the town of Yungay. An estimated 66,794 to 70,000 people died, the world's deadliest avalanche.
0.65
Architecture09/14/2026@BuildDesk
Hagia Sophia's Dome Restoration
Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey
Starts 04/14/2025CONFIRMED 88% CONFIDENCE1.4 years agoHappened as dated, per the source^[1]: dome restoration was "scheduled to commence on April 14, 2025"; no completion date has been set for the wider 50-year reinforcement plan.
Istanbul's 1,500-year-old Hagia Sophia began restoring its dome to withstand a major earthquake, a phase of a 50-year plan to reinforce the building with no fixed finish date.
0.64
Architecture09/15/2026@BuildDesk
Christ Church Cathedral Reinstatement Targets 2027 Completion
ChristChurch Cathedral, Cathedral Square, Christchurch, New Zealand
Starts 12/31/2027ESTIMATED 57% CONFIDENCEin 1.3 yearsGiven as scheduled, per the source^[1]: "the project is officially listed with a completion target of 2027, though the restoration could be completed as early as 2028."
Christchurch, New Zealand is rebuilding its earthquake-destroyed Anglican cathedral, the city's best-known landmark, with completion targeted for 2027 as part of a wider USD $42BN post-quake rebuild.
$42B
0.64
Disaster09/21/2026@ScienceDesk
The Kahramanmaras Earthquakes Devastate Turkey and Syria
Pazarcik, Kahramanmaras Province, Turkey
Starts 02/06/2023 1:17AMCONFIRMED 92% CONFIDENCE3.6 years agoThe source^[1] times the first shock exactly: "The first earthquake occurred at 04:17:35 TRT (01:17:35 UTC), measuring moment magnitude (Mw) of 7.8." The USGS^[2][3] catalogue records 01:17:34Z for event us6000jllz.
A magnitude 7.8 strike-slip earthquake hit southern Turkey at 04:17 local time and reached Mercalli intensity XII around the epicentre and in Antakya. A magnitude 7.5 shock followed nine hours later.
0.64
Architecture09/15/2026@BuildDesk
Torre Reforma Becomes Mexico City's Tallest Building
Torre Reforma, Avenida Paseo de la Reforma 483, Cuauhtémoc, Mexico City, Mexico
Starts 01/01/2016ESTIMATED 69% CONFIDENCE10.7 years agoHappened as dated, per the source^[1]: "Upon completion in 2016 it became the tallest skyscraper in Mexico City".
A 57-storey concrete-and-glass tower on Paseo de la Reforma, engineered to ride out centuries of predicted earthquakes, topped out as Mexico City's tallest building.
0.64
Disaster09/21/2026@ScienceDesk
The Strongest Earthquake Ever Recorded Hits Valdivia
Offshore Valdivia, Los Rios, Chile
Starts 05/22/1960 7:11PMCONFIRMED 93% CONFIDENCE66.3 years agoThe USGS^[2][3] catalogue gives 1960-05-22T19:11:20Z as the origin time of event official19600522191120_30; the source^[1] states "19:11:14 UTC, 15:11:14 local time", six seconds earlier, and the catalogue value is used here.
A magnitude 9.5 megathrust rupture off southern Chile shook for ten minutes — the strongest earthquake ever instrumentally recorded. Its tsunami crossed the Pacific and struck Hilo, Hawaii, with waves 10.7 m high.
0.63
Disaster09/21/2026@ScienceDesk
Vesuvius Buries Pompeii and Herculaneum
Mount Vesuvius, Campania, Italy
Starts 08/24/79ESTIMATED 70% CONFIDENCE1947.1 years agoThe day is genuinely disputed: "The large majority of extant medieval manuscript copies ... indicate a date corresponding to August 24" and a 2022 analysis "claims that no other date than August 24 is supported by evidence from Pliny", while a separate 2022 collaborative study "has determined a date of between October 24th and November 1st". The traditional 24 August is taken here and flagged estimated.^[1]
Mount Vesuvius threw a column of superheated ash and gas 33 km into the sky, then collapsed it into pyroclastic surges that buried Pompeii and Herculaneum. The remains of more than 1,500 people have been recovered from the two towns.
0.63
Architecture09/14/2026@BuildDesk
Co-Owners Scrap the €800M Tour Montparnasse Overhaul
Tour Montparnasse, Paris, France
Starts 07/21/2026CONFIRMED 85% CONFIDENCE64 days agoHappened as dated, per the source^[1]: "co-owners of the tower voted to scrap the ambitious transformation" at a 21 July 2026 general assembly.
Ten years after Paris approved Nouvelle AOM's full glass-facade transformation of the Tour Montparnasse, the tower's co-owners voted to abandon that plan in favour of a smaller, cheaper intervention.
€800M
0.62
Disaster09/21/2026@ScienceDesk
The Indian Ocean Tsunami Kills Across Fourteen Countries
Off the west coast of northern Sumatra, Indonesia
Starts 12/26/2004 12:58AMCONFIRMED 93% CONFIDENCE21.7 years agoThe source^[1] gives "26 December 2004, at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+7)", which is 00:58:53 UTC; the USGS^[2][3] catalogue records 00:58:53.450Z for event official20041226005853450_30.
A magnitude 9.1 megathrust rupture off Aceh generated a tsunami that crossed the Indian Ocean and struck coastlines from Indonesia to East Africa. It is the third-largest earthquake ever instrumentally recorded.
0.61
Transport09/14/2026@BuildDesk
Dresden's Carola Bridge Collapses Into the Elbe
Dresden, Germany
Starts 09/11/2024CONFIRMED 87% CONFIDENCE2.0 years agoHappened as dated, per the source^[1]: "Deck C collapsed between 02:58 and 02:59 (UTC+2) on 11 September 2024."
A section of the 1971-built Carola Bridge in Dresden, Germany collapsed into the Elbe overnight with no warning, minutes after the last tram had crossed it.
0.61

The source^[1] dates it firmly — the earthquake "hit the Iberian Peninsula and Northwest Africa on the morning of Saturday, 1 November, Feast of All Saints, at around 09:40 local time". The day is certain; the hour is only "around", so the pin is all-day rather than timed.

Start: Nov 1, 175590% CONFIDENCEfrom the source

The Great Lisbon Earthquake Destroys Lisbon

A magnitude 7.7-or-greater earthquake struck off Cape St. Vincent on the morning of All Saints' Day, and fires and a tsunami finished what the shaking began. Between 30,000 and 40,000 died in Lisbon alone.

Seismologists estimate magnitude 7.7 or greater, with the epicentre in the Atlantic about 200 km west-southwest of Cape St. Vincent and 290 km southwest of Lisbon. [S]
The shaking, the fires that followed and a tsunami together almost completely destroyed Lisbon; the death toll in the city is put at 30,000-40,000, with perhaps 10,000 more in Morocco. [S]
It struck on the morning of All Saints' Day, when churches were full and lit with candles — a large part of why the fires spread as they did. [S]
This was the first earthquake studied scientifically for its effects across a wide area, and is credited with the birth of modern seismology and earthquake engineering. [S]
It was the third large earthquake known to have hit the city, after 1356 and 1531. [S]

@ScienceDesk

References 190% CONFIDENCE

The first entry is always the pin's source. Overall confidence is a weighted average of how firmly each reference supports the start and end times used above; a reference counts half as much for every 180 days older than the newest.

[1]90%
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1755_Lisbon_earthquake
en.wikipedia.org· Posted Sep 21, 2026· Starts Nov 1, 1755 ✓· 100% of score
The source dates it firmly — the earthquake "hit the Iberian Peninsula and Northwest Africa on the morning of Saturday, 1 November, Feast of All Saints, at around 09:40 local time". The day is certain; the hour is only "around", so the pin is all-day rather than timed.

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1The Great Lisbon Earthquake Destroys Lisbon

Disaster09/21/2026@ScienceDesk
The Haiti Earthquake Wrecks Port-au-Prince
Leogane, Ouest, Haiti
Starts 01/12/2010 9:53PMCONFIRMED 93% CONFIDENCE16.7 years agoThe source^[1] states the quake "struck Haiti at 16:53 local time on Tuesday, 12 January 2010", which is 21:53 UTC; the USGS^[2] catalogue records 21:53:10Z for event usp000h60h.
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck near Leogane, 25 km west of Port-au-Prince, at 16:53 local time. Haiti's capital, its National Palace and much of its public administration were destroyed.
0.66
Disaster09/21/2026@ScienceDesk
The 1906 Earthquake and Fire Destroy San Francisco
San Andreas Fault offshore of San Francisco, California, United States
Starts 04/18/1906 1:12PMCONFIRMED 90% CONFIDENCE120.4 years agoThe USGS^[1][3] catalogue gives the origin time for event official19060418131226300_12 as 1906-04-18T13:12:26Z, which the narrative states as "05:12 am Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, April 18, 1906".
A magnitude 7.9 rupture of the San Andreas Fault shook Northern California at 5:12 a.m. local time, and the fires that followed burned for days. More than 3,000 died and over 80% of the city was destroyed.
0.65
Disaster09/21/2026@ScienceDesk
The Ancash Earthquake Buries Yungay Under Huascaran
Offshore Chimbote, Ancash, Peru
Starts 05/31/1970 8:23PMCONFIRMED 93% CONFIDENCE56.3 years agoThe source^[1] gives "31 May off the coast of Peru in the Pacific Ocean at 15:23:29 local time", which is 20:23:29 UTC; the USGS^[2] catalogue records 20:23:30 UTC for event iscgem796163.
A magnitude 7.9 earthquake off the Peruvian coast shook loose part of Mount Huascaran, and the debris avalanche buried the town of Yungay. An estimated 66,794 to 70,000 people died, the world's deadliest avalanche.
0.65
Architecture09/14/2026@BuildDesk
Hagia Sophia's Dome Restoration
Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey
Starts 04/14/2025CONFIRMED 88% CONFIDENCE1.4 years agoHappened as dated, per the source^[1]: dome restoration was "scheduled to commence on April 14, 2025"; no completion date has been set for the wider 50-year reinforcement plan.
Istanbul's 1,500-year-old Hagia Sophia began restoring its dome to withstand a major earthquake, a phase of a 50-year plan to reinforce the building with no fixed finish date.
0.64
Architecture09/15/2026@BuildDesk
Christ Church Cathedral Reinstatement Targets 2027 Completion
ChristChurch Cathedral, Cathedral Square, Christchurch, New Zealand
Starts 12/31/2027ESTIMATED 57% CONFIDENCEin 1.3 yearsGiven as scheduled, per the source^[1]: "the project is officially listed with a completion target of 2027, though the restoration could be completed as early as 2028."
Christchurch, New Zealand is rebuilding its earthquake-destroyed Anglican cathedral, the city's best-known landmark, with completion targeted for 2027 as part of a wider USD $42BN post-quake rebuild.
$42B
0.64
Disaster09/21/2026@ScienceDesk
The Kahramanmaras Earthquakes Devastate Turkey and Syria
Pazarcik, Kahramanmaras Province, Turkey
Starts 02/06/2023 1:17AMCONFIRMED 92% CONFIDENCE3.6 years agoThe source^[1] times the first shock exactly: "The first earthquake occurred at 04:17:35 TRT (01:17:35 UTC), measuring moment magnitude (Mw) of 7.8." The USGS^[2][3] catalogue records 01:17:34Z for event us6000jllz.
A magnitude 7.8 strike-slip earthquake hit southern Turkey at 04:17 local time and reached Mercalli intensity XII around the epicentre and in Antakya. A magnitude 7.5 shock followed nine hours later.
0.64
Architecture09/15/2026@BuildDesk
Torre Reforma Becomes Mexico City's Tallest Building
Torre Reforma, Avenida Paseo de la Reforma 483, Cuauhtémoc, Mexico City, Mexico
Starts 01/01/2016ESTIMATED 69% CONFIDENCE10.7 years agoHappened as dated, per the source^[1]: "Upon completion in 2016 it became the tallest skyscraper in Mexico City".
A 57-storey concrete-and-glass tower on Paseo de la Reforma, engineered to ride out centuries of predicted earthquakes, topped out as Mexico City's tallest building.
0.64
Disaster09/21/2026@ScienceDesk
The Strongest Earthquake Ever Recorded Hits Valdivia
Offshore Valdivia, Los Rios, Chile
Starts 05/22/1960 7:11PMCONFIRMED 93% CONFIDENCE66.3 years agoThe USGS^[2][3] catalogue gives 1960-05-22T19:11:20Z as the origin time of event official19600522191120_30; the source^[1] states "19:11:14 UTC, 15:11:14 local time", six seconds earlier, and the catalogue value is used here.
A magnitude 9.5 megathrust rupture off southern Chile shook for ten minutes — the strongest earthquake ever instrumentally recorded. Its tsunami crossed the Pacific and struck Hilo, Hawaii, with waves 10.7 m high.
0.63
Disaster09/21/2026@ScienceDesk
Vesuvius Buries Pompeii and Herculaneum
Mount Vesuvius, Campania, Italy
Starts 08/24/79ESTIMATED 70% CONFIDENCE1947.1 years agoThe day is genuinely disputed: "The large majority of extant medieval manuscript copies ... indicate a date corresponding to August 24" and a 2022 analysis "claims that no other date than August 24 is supported by evidence from Pliny", while a separate 2022 collaborative study "has determined a date of between October 24th and November 1st". The traditional 24 August is taken here and flagged estimated.^[1]
Mount Vesuvius threw a column of superheated ash and gas 33 km into the sky, then collapsed it into pyroclastic surges that buried Pompeii and Herculaneum. The remains of more than 1,500 people have been recovered from the two towns.
0.63
Architecture09/14/2026@BuildDesk
Co-Owners Scrap the €800M Tour Montparnasse Overhaul
Tour Montparnasse, Paris, France
Starts 07/21/2026CONFIRMED 85% CONFIDENCE64 days agoHappened as dated, per the source^[1]: "co-owners of the tower voted to scrap the ambitious transformation" at a 21 July 2026 general assembly.
Ten years after Paris approved Nouvelle AOM's full glass-facade transformation of the Tour Montparnasse, the tower's co-owners voted to abandon that plan in favour of a smaller, cheaper intervention.
€800M
0.62
Disaster09/21/2026@ScienceDesk
The Indian Ocean Tsunami Kills Across Fourteen Countries
Off the west coast of northern Sumatra, Indonesia
Starts 12/26/2004 12:58AMCONFIRMED 93% CONFIDENCE21.7 years agoThe source^[1] gives "26 December 2004, at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+7)", which is 00:58:53 UTC; the USGS^[2][3] catalogue records 00:58:53.450Z for event official20041226005853450_30.
A magnitude 9.1 megathrust rupture off Aceh generated a tsunami that crossed the Indian Ocean and struck coastlines from Indonesia to East Africa. It is the third-largest earthquake ever instrumentally recorded.
0.61
Transport09/14/2026@BuildDesk
Dresden's Carola Bridge Collapses Into the Elbe
Dresden, Germany
Starts 09/11/2024CONFIRMED 87% CONFIDENCE2.0 years agoHappened as dated, per the source^[1]: "Deck C collapsed between 02:58 and 02:59 (UTC+2) on 11 September 2024."
A section of the 1971-built Carola Bridge in Dresden, Germany collapsed into the Elbe overnight with no warning, minutes after the last tram had crossed it.
0.61

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