80 The East Anglian Earthquake.
1885. Feb. 27th. South Spain; renewed disturbances.
Two sharp shocks ; many houses in the provinces of Granada
and Malaga damaged, and buildings injured by previous earth-
quakes thrown down. Most severe at Granada, Loja, and
Alhama.
The Earthquake in relation to Meteorological Conditions.—
Although no intimate connection between the occurrence of
earthquakes and barometric fluctuations has as yet been esta-
blished, there seems reason to believe that in certain cases, and
especially in volcanic regions, a sudden diminution of pressure
might cause an incipient earthquake to be precipitated to a
crisis.13 This is not surprising when we consider that a fall in
the barometer of 1 -100th of an inch represents the removal of a
weight of atmospheric air equal to 20,000,000 pounds per
square mile of surface. During the great earthquake period
in Spain at the close of last year, for instance, there appear
to have been violent gales, accompanied by extreme oscilla-
tions of the barometer,14 although of course this may simply
be a case of coincidence. The tendency to connect such
unusual and terrible visitations as earthquakes with extra-
ordinary atmospheric phenomena, such as fiery meteors,
storms and tempests, &c, has been manifest from the earliest
periods, and is by no means extinct at the present time.
Thus, with respect to the recent earthquake, a report from
Lowestoft asserts that " a remarkable agitation of the water
in the New Dock took place, assuming the appearance of a
water-spout rising from off the surface. A volume of sand,
too, was noticed in a state of gyration." From Wansford in
Northamptonshire, also, an observer states that a whirlwind
passed over the field where he was working, and a similar
phenomenon will be found recorded in the Report as having
been noticed at Tring in Hertfordshire. There can be no
13 See the "Second Report of the Committee appointed for the
Measurement of the Lunar Disturbance of Gravity," by. Prof. G. H.
Darwin; Brit. Assoc. Rep., Southampton, 1882, p. 111. In the case of
microseismic oscillations there certainly appears to be tolerably distinct
evidence of such a connection. Ibid., p. 96 et seq. Also Prof. Milne on
"Earth Tremors," Trans. Seism. Soc, Japan; a paper read Oct. 25th,
1883.
14 'Nature,' Jan. 15th, 1885, p. 238.