The 1909 Benavente earthquake
M 6.0 mw
On the afternoon of 23 April 1909 an earthquake of about magnitude 6 struck the lower Tagus valley, some 40 km north-east of Lisbon.
Benavente, Samora Correia and Santo Estêvão were left largely in ruins and more than forty people died. It was felt across most of mainland Portugal, and it remains the strongest earthquake of the 20th century with its source on the mainland. Historical study in Seismological Research Letters.
The faults of the lower Tagus valley, which are also blamed for the damaging earthquake of 1531, are still the main local hazard for the Lisbon region. This is one of the oldest earthquakes in the catalogue: for decades after it, only the large ones were recorded.
2 km SW of Alcochete, Portugal
Mainland · 10.0 km deep · 38.74°, -8.98°
Magnitude by ISC-GEM
Source: USGS
Nearby earthquakes
No other earthquakes within 50 km in the week before and after.