During the eighteenth century seismic activity was chiefly concentrated in Portugal, and culminated in the great Lisbon earthquake of 1755. In the following century the seat of disturbance was transferred from the west to the south of the peninsula; Portugal remained throughout in comparative repose, while Almeria experienced destructive shocks in 1804, 1860, and 1863, and Murcia in 1828-29 and 1864, leading up to the Andalusian earthquakes of 1884-85, described in the present chapter. The preparation for the principal earthquake of December 25th, 1884, was unusually indistinct. For a day or two before, shocks were felt here and there in Andalusia, but so weak were they that they passed almost unperceived. During the night of December 24-25, one slight shock was noticed at Colmeñar (Fig. 19) and another at Zafarraya. On the 25th, a faint movement of the ground was noticed at Malaga, and a few weak tremors at Periana; and shortly after came the great shock at about 8.50 P.M. mean time of Malaga, or about 9.8 P.M. Greenwich mean time. This earthquake was investigated by no fewer than three official committees. The first in the field was nominated by the Spanish Government on January 7th, 1885, and consisted of four members, the President being Señor M.F. de Castro, the director of the Geological Survey of Spain. The report of this commission was presented to the Minister of Agriculture, etc., on March 12th. Early in February a French Commission, appointed by the Academy of Sciences, proceeded to the scene of the disaster. With Professor F. Fouqué as chief, and MM. Lévy, Bertrand, Barrois, Offret, Kilian, Bergeron, and Bréon as members, this committee resolved itself after a time into one for studying the geology of the central area; and, of their voluminous report of more than 700 quarto pages (published in 1889), only 55 are immediately concerned with the earthquake. At the beginning of April, Professors Taramelli and Mercalli, sent by the Italian Government, arrived in Andalusia; and their memoir, read a few months later before the Reale Accademia dei Lincei, forms by far the most valuable contribution to our knowledge of the earthquake. DAMAGE CAUSED BY THE EARTHQUAKE. The meizoseismal area (see Figs. 19 and 20) lies in a mountainous district, almost equidistant from the cities of Malaga and Granada. In this area, which contains nearly 900 square miles, the shock was disastrous to all but well-built houses. Whole villages were overthrown. In the surrounding zone many buildings escaped serious damage, and only a few were completely destroyed. It is estimated by the Spanish Commission that, in the province of Granada, 3,342 houses were totally, and 2,138 partially, ruined; in the province of Malaga, 1,057 houses were totally, and 4,178 partially, ruined; while in the two provinces together 6,463 houses were damaged; making a total of 17,178 buildings more or less seriously injured.