ssentially so pieces—Lisbon, Portugal, on All SaintsDay (November 1), 1755. Just before ten in ty ed at magnitude 9.0 and ses.

    t t ter rus of ty’s urnedin a y feet o truction.  last tion ceased, survivorsenjoyed just tes of calm before a second sly less severe t. A t t all, sixty tually every building for miles reduced to rubble. timated 7.8 on ter scale andlasted less ty seconds.

    Eartude 2.0 or greater—t’s enougo give anyone nearby a pretty good jolt.

    Altend to cluster in certain places—notably around t anyates, only Florida, eastern texas, and t seem—so far—to be almost entirely immune. Neude 6.0 or greater in t tensive local damage and (I can attest) knocking pictures from walls and childrenfrom beds as far away as New hampshire.

    t common types of eartes meet, as in Californiaalong t. As tes pus eacilone or terval beter t-up pressure and ter t. ticular okyo,  University College London, describesas “ty ing to die” (not a motto you ourism leaflets). tokyo standson tectonic plates in a country already s seismicinstability. In 1995, as you y of Kobe, to t,ruck by a magnitude 7.2 quake, edat $99 billion. But t ively little—compared may a tokyo.

    tokyo  devastating eartimes. OnSeptember 1, 1923, just before noon, ty  Kantoquake—an event more ten times more poime, tokyo , so trainbeneaty years. Eventually it is bound to snap. In 1923,tokyo ion of about today it is approacy million. Nobodycares to guess  die, but tential economic cost  asrillion.