Grégory Quenet
44
to Portugal.
21 Again, of the ninety-six sets of correspondence gathered
together by the geographer, Philippe Buache, from his network of
academic contacts, only one concerned Lisbon, and this is dated
1757.
22 From a seismological point of view, the majority of these
earthquakes were neither aftershocks nor effects of the tremors of 1
November 1755. Some of them were very powerful, such as those of 9
December 1755 in the Valais region of Switzerland (intensity VIII-IX
at Brigue), 27 December 1755 in the Rhineland (intensity VII at
Stolberg), and 18 February 1756 in the same region (intensity VIII at
Stolberg).
23
Light earth tremors, which would hitherto have gone unnoticed, were recorded and commented on because they were thought to
relate to the earthquake of 1 November. More attentive to seismic
phenomena, recording them with more sophistication and relating
them to one another with greater consistency, observers at the time
convinced themselves that the shocks were becoming more frequent
after 1755. Jean-Baptiste Robinet was only repeating a commonplace
of the time when he wrote: “jamais les secousses de tremblement de
terre ne furent ni si étendues ni si fréquentes, que depuis quelques
années”.
24 By means of a social dynamic which magnified the perception of risk, this natural hazard came to the forefront of contemporary
preoccupations.
25 Several sources point to the existence of an oral tradition in France perpetuating the memory of the Lisbon earthquake.
The finest scientific instance of this is arguably provided by Philippe
Buache himself when Paris was hit by a tremor on 18 February 1756.
___________________________
21 Académie royale des Sciences, Registre des Procès-verbaux des séances, 17551756, vol. 74-75.
22 Bibliothèque Nationale de France, ms. n.a.fr. 20236 et 20237.
23 Les Tremblements de terre en France, ed. Jérôme Lambert (Orléans: BRGM,
1997), p. 191. The MSK scale is a measure of macroseismic intensity, that is, it registers the intensity of a shock on the basis of its effects on buildings and people. It is
used in France and in the majority of European countries because it is suited to regions of low seismicity. It comprises twelve degrees, but should not be confused with
the more famous Richter scale which measures the magnitude of an earthquake, quantifying the power of a shock as represented by the energy radiating from the epicentre
in the form of seismic waves.
24 Jean-Baptiste Robinet, De la nature (Amsterdam: 1761), p. 64.
25 William J. Burns, Jeanne X. Kasperson, Roger Kasperson , Ortwin Renn, Paul
Slovic, “The social amplification of risk: theoretical foundations and empirical applications”, Journal of social issues, 48 (1992), pp.137-60.
44
to Portugal.
21 Again, of the ninety-six sets of correspondence gathered
together by the geographer, Philippe Buache, from his network of
academic contacts, only one concerned Lisbon, and this is dated
1757.
22 From a seismological point of view, the majority of these
earthquakes were neither aftershocks nor effects of the tremors of 1
November 1755. Some of them were very powerful, such as those of 9
December 1755 in the Valais region of Switzerland (intensity VIII-IX
at Brigue), 27 December 1755 in the Rhineland (intensity VII at
Stolberg), and 18 February 1756 in the same region (intensity VIII at
Stolberg).
23
Light earth tremors, which would hitherto have gone unnoticed, were recorded and commented on because they were thought to
relate to the earthquake of 1 November. More attentive to seismic
phenomena, recording them with more sophistication and relating
them to one another with greater consistency, observers at the time
convinced themselves that the shocks were becoming more frequent
after 1755. Jean-Baptiste Robinet was only repeating a commonplace
of the time when he wrote: “jamais les secousses de tremblement de
terre ne furent ni si étendues ni si fréquentes, que depuis quelques
années”.
24 By means of a social dynamic which magnified the perception of risk, this natural hazard came to the forefront of contemporary
preoccupations.
25 Several sources point to the existence of an oral tradition in France perpetuating the memory of the Lisbon earthquake.
The finest scientific instance of this is arguably provided by Philippe
Buache himself when Paris was hit by a tremor on 18 February 1756.
___________________________
21 Académie royale des Sciences, Registre des Procès-verbaux des séances, 17551756, vol. 74-75.
22 Bibliothèque Nationale de France, ms. n.a.fr. 20236 et 20237.
23 Les Tremblements de terre en France, ed. Jérôme Lambert (Orléans: BRGM,
1997), p. 191. The MSK scale is a measure of macroseismic intensity, that is, it registers the intensity of a shock on the basis of its effects on buildings and people. It is
used in France and in the majority of European countries because it is suited to regions of low seismicity. It comprises twelve degrees, but should not be confused with
the more famous Richter scale which measures the magnitude of an earthquake, quantifying the power of a shock as represented by the energy radiating from the epicentre
in the form of seismic waves.
24 Jean-Baptiste Robinet, De la nature (Amsterdam: 1761), p. 64.
25 William J. Burns, Jeanne X. Kasperson, Roger Kasperson , Ortwin Renn, Paul
Slovic, “The social amplification of risk: theoretical foundations and empirical applications”, Journal of social issues, 48 (1992), pp.137-60.