Reminder: Earth is an Active Planet

Several years ago, I was able to travel to Lisbon to work with the Galileo Teacher Training Program. Sitting in a small cafe, I was struck by the beautiful wreckage of an old cathedral. When I asked my collaborator about it, she told me a story I’d never heard. In 1755 an earthquake struck the region, shaking the landscape for more than 3 minutes with a quake estimated to be between magnitude 8.5 and 9. With an epicenter located out to sea, the devastation didn’t end with the end of the shaking. It was followed by a tsunami … A hazard unfamiliar to Europeans. According to historical reports…