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The south of Spain is one of the areas of the country marked in red due to being at a high risk of earthquakes. This is attested to by historical records that have been compiled over past centuries. Among the most deadly earthquakes was the one that happened at Christmas 1884, with its epicentre in the town of Arenas del Rey in Granada and caused serious damage in Malaga's Axarquía area.
This Wednesday 25 December will mark 140 years since the natural disaster, with the earthquake a turning point in the history of Spain, as it completely transformed the architecture of buildings in many municipalities as many needed to be completely rebuilt.
The so-called 'Andalusian earthquake' occurred on 25 December 1884 with its epicentre in the municipality of Arenas del Rey in Granada, which takes its name precisely from the visit of King Alfonso XII, the great-great-grandfather of the current king, Felipe VI, barely a month after the earthquake, to the most devastated areas in January 1885.
The earthquake reached an intensity of grade X (EMS-98) at the epicentre and had a major impact on the whole of Axarquia and the Granada region of Alhama de Granada. "The earthquake caused the almost total destruction of villages such as Periana and in others such as Vélez-Malaga, new neighbourhoods were created. Three towns were reduced to nothing: the village of Guaro, in Periana, and Ventas de Zafarraya and Arenas del Rey, in the province of Granada," said Velez historian Francisco Montoro, author of the Spanish book 'Terremotos de la Axarquía' (Earthquake of the Axarquía). It states that the earthquake caused 745 deaths and injured 1,485, as published in SUR on 25 January 2016, just the same day that a strong 6.2 earthquake was recorded which was felt throughout Malaga province, but did not cause any damage.
However, other historical sources place the Christmas Day 1884 quake at a magnitude of between 6.2 and 6.5 on the Richter scale, lasting approximately 10 seconds, with a hypocentre between 10 and 20 kilometres away, causing between 1,050 and 1,200 deaths, and around twice as many injuries. The earthquake affected some 100 urban centres in the provinces of Granada, Malaga and Almeria.
According to these other historical sources, it happened at 9.08pm on Christmas Day, with a maximum duration of 20 seconds. The worst affected areas, with major building collapses, deaths and injuries, were the southwest of the Granada province and the east of Malaga province. Across this area there were some 800 fatalities and around 1,500 injured. Some 4,400 houses were destroyed and a further 13,000 damaged.
Arenas del Rey was the worst affected town where 90% of homes collapsed and the rest suffering very serious damage. A total of 135 people died and 253 were injured in this municipality, which today has 610 registered inhabitants. The village was completely rebuilt at some distance from the previous one. Alhama de Granada was the town with the highest number of victims, with 463 dead and 473 injured. More than 70% of the houses collapsed. A new neighbourhood was built in the vicinity of the so-called Hoya del Ejido.
In addition to rockslides caused by the earthquake, there were also landslides in the area, which were aggravated by tremors. Aftershocks in the days after the incident caused people to take to the streets, and those who remained indoors did so with their doors open, despite the intense cold at the time.
Given the precarious communications at the time, the location of the villages and the fact that the earthquake occurred on Christmas Day, it was not until 27 December that the exact extent of the damage was known. That same day, the Diputación provincial council of Granada sent an information commission to report on what had happened. On 29 December, the newspaper 'El Defensor de Granada' appealed for help in the national press, but as the news had not yet spread, the alarm was interpreted in Madrid as "an exaggeration", so aid continued to be delayed.
During the three or four days following the earthquake, each family had to subsist on its meagre means, so more people died than were affected by the earthquake itself. Making matters worse, a few days after the earthquake, one of the heaviest snowfalls in Spain in living memory hit the area.
The first aid received was shipments of food and blankets. The council of ministers, presided over by King Alfonso XII, agreed to open a national subscription inviting all state employees to cede part of their salaries on the first day of the following February, and to organise shows and festivities to raise funds for the damaged areas. Among the most notable was the one held on 28 January 1885, a benefit concert organised by the Dukes of Fernán Núñez, with performances by artists from the Teatro Real. The event was attended by King Alfonso XII and Queen María Cristina and the Infantas Isabel and Eulalia, who helped to raise more money for charity.
The news of the earthquakes, as there were more than a hundred aftershocks in the days that followed, went around the world and some 40 countries sent donations, up to a total of three million pesetas, to help the victims, according to the Velez historian. Although the minutes of the town hall of Vélez-Malaga for the year 1885 are missing, the author provides in his book abundant and detailed documentation obtained in other ways that allow the reader to have a fairly approximate view of the effects of the earthquake in La Axarquía. "This book provides documents of great interest on the intensity of that misfortune," said Montoro.
In the case of Vélez-Malaga, the earthquake affected 1,291 houses, including the bell tower of the church of Carmen, a building which no longer exists and collapsed on neighbouring houses. According to Montoro, in a municipal record prior to the day of the earthquake, specifically on 21 December, the secretary of the consistory wrote a note in which he stated: "Great earthquake occurred in this city on 25 December 1884 at 9 o'clock in the evening. The tremors continued, with more or less intensity, and continued at intervals of days throughout the month of February 1885, following some tremors in March on the first days, but from the 10th onwards they were not felt. The earthquakes continued. On the 11th April at 5am a strong trepidation. In May nothing. Nothing new worth mentioning until 13 July at 9:08pm. Strong tremor at 2am on 30 July. Continued in August. The population suffered losses amounting to 8,000,000 pesetas".
Those part of the royal commission appointed to assess the damage and control the aid was Antonio Ortega Escalona, a popular flamenco singer who used the stage name, Juan Breva. Montoro's book reproduced in part the reports made by the president of the Malaga science society, Domingo de Oruela y Duarte; Spanish geologist José McPherson; military officer Eduardo Feliu Boada, and those of the official commission appointed by the government, as well as official reports on the earthquake by the Sociedad de Beneficencia de Cuba and the regional commissioner.
In Nerja, meanwhile, the tremors lasted about 13 seconds, according to the official history recorder, José Adolfo Pascual, who died in June 2012, in a report published in SUR on 29 December 2007. The villagers, fearing possible aftershocks, improvised tents and huts to shelter from the cold and rain. The people brought out Saint Michael the Archangel and the Virgin of the Anguish in procession to intercede for the people, who cheered the patron saints.
The damage caused was not that great compared to Alhama de Granada, Arenas del Rey, Fornes, Periana or Vélez-Malaga. The biggest incident happened in Puerta del Mar, on the corner of Calle Carabeo, where the telegraph building collapsed. The telegraph facility was temporarily installed in a tent on Paseo Balcón de Europa, according to José Adolfo Pascual.
There was only one person injured, that of the policeman Berrocal, who died when a large stone fell on him. As a result of these unfortunate events, King Alfonso XII visited all the towns affected by the earthquakes. On 20 January he arrived in Nerja, together with the ministers of war and the interior, Quesada and Romero Robledo. They were welcomed by the municipal corporation next to the Frontiles ravine.
On arrival at the chapel, the royal advisers rested in a tent, and then went to the Sanctuary of Nuestra Señora de las Angustias to sing the Latin Christian hymn 'Te Deum' where the parish priest and clergymen were waiting for them. Around midday, the King walked through the main streets of the town until he reached the Balcón de Europa. The King's presence brought the municipality aid from the calamity fund to the amount of 14,274.25 pesetas.
The legend has it that it was the monarch who baptised the Balcón de Europa, but, as SUR published in October 2023, there are minutes of the council meeting which indicate that this was the case prior to 1874. Meanwhile, in the neighbouring town of Frigiliana, historian and researcher Pablo Rojo has produced a documentary work on the effects of the earthquake in the municipality of Frigiliana, which was presented in the town last Thursday.
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