Some of the fissures were of great length. One of the most remarkable occurred at Guevejar, a village built on the south-west slope of the Sierra de Cogollos. It was in the form of a horse-shoe, and was about two miles long, from ten to fifty feet wide, and of great depth. In its neighbourhood, innumerable small cracks appeared, some perpendicular and others parallel to the great fissure. The ground within, a bed of clay resting on limestone, also slid down towards the river. Houses near the centre of the fissured tract were shifted as much as thirty yards within the first month, and others near its extremity about ten feet; while the accumulation of the material at the south end of the fissure resulted in the formation of a small lake, of about 250 to 350 square yards in area and about 30 feet deep. All streams within the fissured zone disappeared, and the spring, which provided the drinking-water of the village, ceased to flow. The underground water-system was generally affected throughout the central area. In some places, mineral springs disappeared; in others, new springs broke out or old ones flowed more abundantly. At Alhama, the increased flow was accompanied by a permanent rise in temperature from 47° to 50° C., and by a marked change in character. AFTER-SHOCKS. Frequent after-shocks are a characteristic of the earthquakes of Southern Spain. After the Cordova earthquake of 1170, they continued for at least three years. The Murcian earthquake of 1828 was followed by 300 minor shocks during the next twenty-four hours, and for more than a year slight tremors were often felt. For some time after the great earthquake of 1884, the movements of the ground were extremely numerous in the immediate neighbourhood of the epicentre, farther away they were rarer and of less intensity, and outside the area of damaged buildings they were nearly absent. Thus, during the night of December 25-26, 110 after-shocks were counted at Jatar, from 14 to 17 at Alcaucin, Ventas de Huelma, Motril, Cacin, Durcal, Malaga, etc.; about 11 at La Mala and Albuñuelas; 9 at Velez-Malaga and Lenteje; and from 5 to 7 at Frigiliana, Riogordo, and Cartama. The strongest of these shocks occurred at 2.20 A.M., and, though none was violent, several helped to complete the ruin of many houses that had been damaged by the principal shock. From this time, after-shocks occurred almost daily until the end of May, after which they became much less frequent. According to the list given in the Italian report, which closes at the end of January 1886, 237 shocks were felt, 23 up to the end of December, 30 in January 1885, 25 in February, 27 in March, 46 in April, and 43 in May. In June 1885, only three are recorded, and the average number during each of the following seven months lies between five and six. This list, however, does not include the very weak shocks,[36] for nearly all those contained in it were felt as far as Malaga or its neighbourhood.