Page:Science vol. 5.djvu/210

 �I

��years. Beginning towar<l tUe dose of Decem- ber last, tUe fihoeka continued at intervals for more than a month, and, indeed, the ground has hardly jet resumed its wonted stability; while the loss of life and destruction of prop- erty, exceeding that of 1829 in Valencia, has perhapB not been equalled since the great Lis- bon earthquake of a century ngo,

The first light shocks were reiwrted in the earlv morning of Dec. 22, 18«4. at _ Pontevedra and Vi- go on the north-west coast, and were also felt at Lisbon ami ' other places in Por- tugal, on the island of Madeira and the Azores.

This was followed on the evening of Dec. 25 by disaa- trouB shocks in the southern part of tlic peninsula. They be- gan at 6.53 P.M., being felt as far north as Bladrid. where bells were rung and clocks etopi^cd, but doing no damage there; while in the south- ern provinces of An- dalusia, Granada, and Malaga, where the iirincipal force was expended, hun- dreds of houses 1

��erthn

�� ���dreds of lives lost, and some towns and vill^ea entirely de- stroyed.

In Cadiz, Seville, Cordova, Jaen, and Al- meria the shocks were strongly felt, injuring some buildings, but without serious damage. At Granaila, shocks to the number of eight oc- curred during that night; and, besides other casualties, the front of the catheilral was in- jured, the Alhambra fortunately escaping harra. The villages of Albunuelas, Arenas del Key, Jatar, Znl'arraya, 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 |)ortion, situated upon the higher ground,

��NCE. tVoi- v.. No. 109,

was cast down u|>on the lower, overwbelmiog it in its fall. The hot springs also ceased to flow for two days, after which, the flow resumed raore abundantly' than before, waters have since then acquired a marked sul- phurous character, and their temperature increased from 47° C, to 50° C.

The province of Malaga also sufl'ered severe- ly. In Uie dly ofMalaga ail the public buildings

-"mo were destroj-ed ulih many oxhet lioiises. At Estepo- ji!i. on the coast w of Malaga, a churdt and n block of build- ings were destroyed. At Torres, Neri«, Almunecar. and Mo- tril, places on the Mediterranean " east of Malaga^ many buildings wen overthrown, many lives lost, the first -mentioned place, as stated b^ the alcalde, twent^ sis ahoeks occurred between 8.50 p.h. of the 25th and 1 1 a of the 26th, com' pletely destroying the village. At Al- muFiecar twelve shocks occurred tlfteen minutes, j many places where: the destmetion ^ less complete, espe- cially at Granadt and Malaga, th habitants camped fot days in the fieldi and open places, sleeping in tents and shedsi; 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, anf destroying a church and seven hundred and &0^ houses. Above the village of Guevejar, buftt; upon a hillside, a great parabolic crevasse three kilometres long has opened to a width of fhim. three to fifteen metres ; and the village, whidi' rests on a stratum of clay, is slowly slidio downward to the valley, while the houses s " remain standing. Some of the houses hart moved twenty-seven metres since Deo.

�� �