Magnitude 4.8 earthquake shakes Lisbon // 'Switzerland, not Portugal’: Ai Weiwei blocked from entry and deported

Portuguese news in English on Tuesday, February 18, 2025.

Magnitude 4.8 earthquake shakes Lisbon

You weren’t imagining it. A 4.8 magnitude earthquake hit about 17 kilometres south of Lisbon yesterday afternoon, shaking the capital and its surrounds, Público reports. Geologist Filipe Rosas classified the tremor, which hit at a relatively shallow depth of seven kilometres, as “moderate” or “intermediate”. On the modified Mercalli intensity scale It was classed as “strong” closer to its epicentre at Praia da Adiça in Costa da Caparica. Rosas said there didn’t seem to be any link between this quake and the 5.3 magnitude one in August except that they both occurred inside the Euroasiatic plate as opposed to its border with the African plate further south. That fault line had the potential to generate tremors of larger magnitudes, he said.

Despite this being the second notable earthquake in about six months, Rosas told Diário de Notícias there was nothing to suggest seismic activity was increasing in the region. He said there was no reason to presume they were some sort of precursor to a larger quake or that Portugal would suddenly become a seismic activity zone. If the worst does happen and there is a disaster in Lisbon, there are 86 emergency meeting points spread throughout the city, Público reports. They’re away from buildings and walls, have bathrooms and carry an estimated capacity of about 600,000 people in total. Lisbon City Council has them listed on a map here. The Los Angeles Times has a good guide, in English, for what to do during and immediately after an earthquake.