[2] Miranda et al. conclude that "these observations are coherent with the existence of a large change in the estuary seafloor, either tectonic displacement or a landslide.

The events that followed are closely compared to those following the 1755 earthquake, from the King taking refuge in tents, in Palmela, to the religious and civil repercussions and the response of the State.

Rumors spread quickly after the tremor, apparently encouraged by the friars of Santarém, that the disaster was divine punishment (Latin: "Ira Dei"- Wrath of God) and that the Jewish community was to blame.

Poet and playwright Gil Vicente, who was present in that city during the quake, reportedly personally defused the situation while scolding the friars for their fear-mongering in a powerfully written letter to King John III, and possibly averting a massacre of Jews and recent converts to Christianity.

[2] In 1919, a four-page letter addressed to the Marquis of Tarifa was found in a Lisbon bookshop, which appeared to describe the earthquake.