1755 Lisbon earthquake a benevolent deity. The Lisbon disaster provided a counterexample. As Theodor Adorno wrote, "[t]he earthquake of Lisbon sufficed to cure Voltaire of the theodicy of Leibniz" ("Negative Dialectics" 361). In the later twentieth century, the 1755 earthquake has sometimes been compared to the Holocaust as a catastrophe that transformed European culture and philosophy. Jean-Jacques Rousseau was also influenced by the devastation following the earthquake, whose severity he believed was due to too many people living within the close quarters of the city. Rousseau used the earthquake as an argument against cities as part of his desire for a more naturalistic
1996 Lijiang earthquake 1996 Lijiang earthquake The 1996 Lijiang earthquake occurred at 19:14 on 3 February near Lijiang City, Yunnan in southwestern China. The shock measured 6.6 on the moment magnitude scale and had a maximum Mercalli intensity of X ("Extreme"). According to authorities, up to 322 people died and more than 17,000 were injured. About 358,000 buildings were destroyed, and 320,000 people were made homeless. The earthquake destroyed many structures and buildings in the region; property damage was estimated at 506 million US dollars. In addition to damage to structures, it triggered more than 200 landslides in a 12,000 km area. Many