Earthquake alert for Portugal and Spain: Experts warn catastrophic 1755 disaster is at risk of repeating itself as buildings are not prepared

THE alarm has been raised for authorities on the Iberian Peninsula to better prepare themselves for a potentially devastating earthquake.

According to experts, there is a risk that the infamous quake of 1755, which measured up to nine on the Richter scale, could soon repeat itself.

The Great Lisbon Earthquake, as it was called, killed up to 60,000 people in Portugal, Spain and Morocco, triggering a 15-metre-high tsunami (pictured in artist’s sketch above) that destroyed the Portuguese capital and engulfed parts of Cadiz and Huelva.

Now, seismologists are calling on Portugal to reinforce buildings so that the next time a mega quake strikes, it is not as deadly.

They include Mario Lopes, professor at the Instituto Superior Tecnico (IST) and doctor in Seismic Engineering at the Imperial College London.

They want the Portuguese Government to urgently plan for the seismic reinforcement of social buildings and facilities that accommodate babies and children.

According to a study quoted by Informacion, in Greater Lisbon, some 600,000 people live in buildings that are not prepared to withstand violent earthquakes.

Meanwhile, hundreds of nurseries and kindergartens are located in old residential buildings, which will collapse or suffer serious damage when a major earthquake occurs again, they warned in a report.

“There is an urgent need for a national programme to reinforce nurseries and schools,” said Lopes.

They warned how most schools are vulnerable to severe earthquakes as many of them are located in areas that will be swallowed by a tsunami that would follow a major earthquake with an epicenter at sea.

Most public hospitals would also be unable to withstand a violent earthquake.

Lisbon’s two central hospitals, Santa Maria and São Jose, are said to be among the most vulnerable.

In 1755, a quake estimated to have measured between 8.5 and 9 on the Richter scale struck the Iberian Peninsula.

Under the Straits of Gibraltar there is a unique subduction zone, a zone in which which one tectonic plate moves beneath another with the potential to cause powerful earthquakes.

Although debate still rages among seismologists, it is believed that it was a subduction zone beneath the Gulf of Cadiz and Gibraltar which caused Europe’s deadliest earthquake.

The Great Lisbon Earthquake, as it was called, killed up to 60,000 people in Portugal, Spain and Morocco, triggering a 15-metre-high tsunami that destroyed the Portuguese capital and engulfed parts of Cadiz and Huelva.