Port Royal: The City God Swallowed Whole in 2 Minutes

In 1692, Port Royal, Jamaica was the richest — and most notorious — city in English America. Built by pirates, funded by stolen Spanish silver, and fueled by rum, it earned the nickname "the wickedest city on Earth." On June 7th, at 11:43 in the morning, the ground turned to liquid beneath it. In under two minutes, two-thirds of the city slid straight into the sea — buildings, streets, and an entire graveyard swallowed whole. What followed killed almost as many people again. This is the true story of the city everyone said deserved its ending — the pirates who built it, the earthquake that destroyed it, and the one object recovered from the wreckage centuries later that tells the exact moment it all happened. Subscribe for more historical AI reconstructions — new videos every week.