Catastrophes, too, on a scale such as have not yet been experiencedduring the life of our present Fifth Race, took place on more than oneoccasion during the progress of the Fourth. The destruction ofAtlantis was accomplished by a series of catastrophes varying incharacter from great cataclysms in which whole territories andpopulations perished, to comparatively unimportant landslips such asoccur on our own coasts to-day. When the destruction was onceinaugurated by the first great catastrophe there was no intermissionof the minor landslips which continued slowly but steadily to eataway the continent. Four of the great catastrophes stand out above therest in magnitude. The first took place in the Miocene age, about800,000 years ago. The second, which was of minor importance, occurredabout 200,000 years ago. The third--about 80,000 years ago--was a verygreat one. It destroyed all that remained of the Atlantean continent,with the exception of the island to which Plato gave the name ofPoseidonis, which in its turn was submerged in the fourth and finalgreat catastrophe of 9,564 B.C.