Portugal earthquake: Lisbon woken up by 4.3 magnitude quake

An earthquake has shaken Lisbon and a number of towns on the south-east coast of Portugal early this morning.

The quake measured 4.3 on the Richter Scale and was confirmed by the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere at 7.44am.

Its epicentre was 23 miles north-west of Lisbon and the estimated population in the area which felt the tremors is around 3.5 million people.

So far no structural damage or injuries have been reported as a result of the earthquake. Social media users have estimated it lasted between four and 10 seconds.

The European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) shared updates on its twitter page from people who experienced the tremors in Leiria, Foz do Arelho, Loures, Costa Caparica and Sintra.

Twitter users were active on the platform this morning, with many reporting the earthquake woke them up. Lara Marcos wrote: “An earthquake just happened here in Portugal that was crazy it's like 8am”.

Sandra Ramos wrote: “It was just 7:44am when a 4.3 earthquake was registered Lisbon. :s did anyone else woke [sic] up with it?”

And Anna Portugal added: “Just felt an earthquake after waking up. Tiny, but always scary considering #lisbon1755.”

Many on twitter referenced the 1755 earthquake which devastated the city. The six-minute long quake, which was followed by a tsunami, killed tens of thousands in Lisbon alone, destroying 85 per cent of the city's buildings. Seismologists estimate it had a magnitude in the range of 8.5 to 9, making it one of the deadliest in history.