In the 18th century, the port on its river was of considerable importance, shipping produce such as salt, dried fish and wine. Like most of the Algarve its buildings were virtually all destroyed by the earthquake of 1755. This earthquake is thought to have reached 8.5-9.0 on the moment magnitude scale and caused extensive damage throughout the Algarve due to high intensity shaking (XI (Extreme) on the Mercalli intensity scale) and tsunamis. The earthquake is referred to as the Lisbon earthquake due to its terrible effects on the capital city, although the epicentre was some west-southwest of Cape St. Vincent in the Algarve.