192 



SCIENCE, 



[Vol. V., No. 109. 



years. Beginning toward the close of Decem- 

 ber last, the shocks continued at intervals for 

 more than a month, and, indeed, the ground 

 has hardly yet resumed its wonted stability ; 

 while the loss of life and destruction of prop- 

 erty, exceeding that of 1829 in Valencia, has 

 perhaps not been equalled since the great Lis- 

 bon earthquake of a century ago. 



The first light shocks were reported in the 

 earlv morning of 

 Dec. 22, 1884, at 

 Pontevedra and Vi- 

 go on the north-west 

 coast, and were also 

 felt at Lisbon and 

 other places in Por- 

 tugal, on the island 

 of Madeira and the 

 Azores. 



This was followed 

 on the evening of 

 Dec. 25 by disas- 

 trous shocks in the 

 southern part of the 

 peninsula. They be- 

 gan at 8.53 p.m., 

 being felt as far 

 north as Madrid, 

 where bells were 

 rung and clocks 

 stopped, but doing- 

 no damage there ; 

 while in the south- 

 ern provinces of An- 

 dalusia, Granada, 

 and Malaga, where 

 the principal force 

 was expended, hun- 

 dreds of houses were 

 overthrown, hun- 

 dreds of lives lost, 

 and some towns and 

 villages entirely de- 

 stroyed . 



In Cadiz, Seville. 

 meria the shocks were strongly felt, injuring 

 some buildings, but without serious damage. 

 At Granada, shocks to the number of eight oc- 

 curred during that night; and, besides other 

 casualties, the front of the cathedral was in- 

 jured, the Alhambra fortunately escaping harm. 

 The villages of Albunuelas, Arenas del Rey, 

 Jatar, Zafarraya, and Santa Cruz, were left a 

 mass of ruins. Alhama was destroyed with 

 the loss of over a thousand houses and three 

 hundred and fifty lives. This town consisted 

 of two parts, — an upper and a lower. The 

 upper portion, situated upon the higher ground, 



view in a street op alhama, JAN. 3. (From La Nature.) 



Cordova, Jaen, and Al- 



was cast down upon the lower, overwhelming 

 it in its fall. The hot springs also ceased to 

 flow for two days, after which, the flow was 

 resumed more abundantly than before. The 

 waters have since then acquired a marked sul- 

 phurous character, and their temperature has 

 increased from 47° C. to 50° C. 



The province of Malaga also suffered severe- 

 ly. In the city of Malaga all the public buildings 



were injured, and 

 some were destroyed 

 with many other 

 houses. At Estepo- 

 na, on the coast west 

 of Malaga, a church 

 and a block of build- 

 ings were destroyed. 

 At Torrox, Nerja, 

 Almunecar, and Mo- 

 tril, places on the 

 Mediterranean Sea 

 east of Malaga, 

 many buildings were 

 overthrown, and 

 many lives lost. In 

 the first - mentioned 

 place, as stated by 

 the alcalde, twenty- 

 six shocks occurred 

 between 8.50 p.m. of 

 the 25th and 11 a.m. 

 of the 26th, com- 

 pletely destroying 

 the village. At Al- 

 munecar twelve 

 shocks occurred in 

 fifteen minutes. At 

 many places where 

 the destruction was 

 less complete, espe- 

 cially at Granada 

 and Malaga, the in- 

 habitants camped for 

 daj's in the fields 

 and open places, sleeping in tents and sheds, 

 or in carriages, not daring to return to their 

 houses. At Periana, north of Malaga, an ex- 

 tensive land-slip was caused by the earthquake, 

 overwhelming a large part of the town, and 

 destining a church and seven hundred and fifty 

 houses. Above the village of Guevejar, built 

 upon a hillside, a great parabolic crevasse three 

 kilometres long has opened to a width of from 

 three to fifteen metres ; and the village, which 

 rests on a stratum of clay, is slowly sliding 

 downward to the valle}', while the houses still 

 remain standing. Some of the houses have 

 moved twentv- seven metres since Dec. 25. 



