Universal History Annotation << Back CATASTROPHE WHISH CHANGED THE COURSE OF HISTORY S.V. Belov The essay is dedicated to the history of one of the greatest natural disasters that occurred in Europe – the Lisbon earthquake of 1755. This catasrophe led to numerous casualties and destruction, divided the history of the country in two and initiated the process of loss of infl uence of Portugal, as one of the most powerful countries on the continent. This, ultimately, led to the fact that the country was regarded as Europe's backyard. The role of the Marquis De Pombal in the reconstruction of Lisbon is shown. Described geological features of the development of the seismic process and its associated phenomena of tsunami waves and deep degassing of Earth, which led to fires and radioactive pollution of soils. A retrospective analysis of the history of the manifestation of earthquakes in the region since the twelfth century to the present time had been made. The conclusions about the possibility of a reiterate of similar earthquakes had been made. It suggests that in the context of the ongoing seismic the Earth's life, not knowing her past history, does not allow to predict the future. Keywords: Lisbon earthquake; the Marquis De Pombal; the history of seismicity in Portugal; tsunamis; degassing of Earth. Contacts: E-mail: belov.s-2011@yandex.ru Pp. 091-097.