Next Thursday, 28 February, it will be fifty years since the earthquake that, in the last century, following the Benavente earthquake of 1909, caused more important damage to the mainland.
So that the «collective awareness of seismic risk» does not fade over time, the Portuguese Society of Seismic Engineering (SPES), the Portuguese Association of Meteorology and Geophysics (APMG) and the Municipality of Lagos decided to promote, on the 28th , in the Algarve city, an evocative session of the earthquake.
The earthquake of February 28, 1969 had an epicenter in the area of the Goringe bank (southwest of Cape S. Vicente), an estimated magnitude of 7.9, a maximum intensity between 7 and 8 and was felt throughout the country, with greater damage in the Western Algarve, causing an undetermined number of deaths (references point to thirteen deaths, although only two due to the direct effects of the earthquake).
It was the last earthquake to cause major damage and casualties in mainland Portugal, causing panic among the population, the collapse of some structures, cuts in the electricity and telephone networks.
It was, therefore, etched in the memory of all those who felt it, “although the collective awareness of the seismic risk is diluted with time, so the marking of this ephemeris is important to recover this perception”, stresses the Câmara de Lagos.
The evocative session, which will take place in the auditorium of the XXI Century Town Hall building, in Lagos, aims to «raise the population's awareness and call attention to the seismic risk in Portugal, involving those who have responsibilities in the study, definition and implementation of measures to ensure the minimization of this risk'.
Program
Opening of works
Maria Joaquina Matos, Mayor of Lagos
Contribution of Geophysics to the minimization of seismic risk
Olavo Rasquinho (representing the Portuguese Association of Meteorology and Geophysics)
Engineering's contribution to the minimization of seismic risk
João Azevedo (President of the Portuguese Society of Seismic Engineering)
The seismic danger in Portugal
Miguel Miranda (President of the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere)
Seismic vulnerability in Portugal
Carlos Sousa Oliveira (Higher Technical Institute)
The earthquake of February 28, 1969 in the light of the national and regional press: the particular case of the Algarve
António Carrilho (Superior Technician of the Municipality of Lagos)
Local intervention in minimizing seismic risk – the example of Lagos
Frederico Mendes Paula (Senior Technician of the City Council of Lagos)
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