In contrast to other previous and later disasters the Lisbon earthquake was more than a local disaster that changed the life of the Portuguese population and later became subject to the merciless oblivion of history. This cataclysm left lasting traces in European science, social life, religion and philosophy. The material effects were rapidly felt all over Europe, also affecting the economy and the whole conception of how humans should think and act in a world where such events occurred. This paper follows the change in Immanuel Kant's philosophy after the earthquake based on the thesis that this event contributed fundamentally to the formation of Kant's mature philosophy and its paradigmatic status in European thought until the present day.