I like to look things up. I found this Wikipedia article about the 1755 earthquake in Portugal. Because it was a religious holiday there were candles in every home and this caused an out of control fire that helped wipe out the city. This is another good reason to throw out Christianity. I recommend click the link. The whole thing is very interesting.

Wikipedia - 1755 Lisbon earthquake

The earthquake struck on the morning of 1 November 1755, All Saints' Day. Contemporary reports state that the earthquake lasted between three and a half and six minutes, causing fissures 5 meters (16 feet) wide in the city center. Survivors rushed to the open space of the docks for safety and watched as the sea receded, revealing a plain of mud littered with lost cargo and shipwrecks.

Approximately 40 minutes after the earthquake, a tsunami engulfed the harbor and downtown area, rushing up the Tagus river "so fast that several people riding on horseback ... were forced to gallop as fast as possible to the upper grounds for fear of being carried away." It was followed by two more waves. Candles lit in homes and churches all around the city for All Saints' Day were knocked over, starting a fire that developed into a firestorm which burned for hours in the city, asphyxiating people up to 30 meters (100 feet) from the blaze.