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
1117 Verona earthquake 1117 Verona earthquake An earthquake, rated at VII ("Very strong") on the Mercalli intensity scale, struck northern Italy and Germany on 3 January 1117. The epicentre of the first shock was near Verona, the city which suffered the most damage. The outer wall of the was partially felled, and the standing portion was damaged in a later earthquake of 1183. Many other churches, monasteries, and ancient monuments were destroyed or seriously damaged, eliminating much of Verona's early medieval architecture and providing space for a massive Romanesque rebuilding. After the first shock of 3 January, seismic activity persisted for months, striking