厄瓜多尔地震遇难人数升至246人

 Slideshow About 10,000 troops and 4,600 police were deployed¹ to search for survivors² following the powerful earthquake in Ecuador, with the official death toll³ rising to 233 on Sunday.

厄瓜多尔发生强烈地震后，该国投入1万军人和4600名警察搜索幸存者，周日官方公布的死亡人数已升至246人。

A 7.8 magnitude quake struck on Saturday evening off Ecuador’s coast about 200km from the capital Quito, causing widespread damage to local communities. The tremor⁴ was the strongest to hit the Andean country since 1979, and came only a day after a 7.3 magnitude quake struck Japan on the other side of the Pacific.

上周六夜晚，距离首都基多200公里的海上发生7.8级地震，对当地社区造成广泛破坏。这是这个安第斯山区国家自1979年以来遭遇的震级最高的地震。仅一天前，位于太平洋另一端的日本发生了一场7.3级的地震。

Rafael Correa, Ecuador’s president, declared a national emergency and cut short a visit to Rome, as he urged Ecuadoreans to stay strong while authorities handle the disaster. He said that support for the rescuers from neighbouring countries was on its way. “Immediate priority is to rescue those [trapped] among the rubble⁵,” he said on Twitter.

厄瓜多尔总统拉斐尔?科雷亚(Rafael Correa)宣布该国进入紧急状态，他中断了对罗马的访问，敦促厄瓜多尔人在当局处理这场灾难的时候保持坚强。他表示，邻国对救援人员的支援正在路上。“当务之急是救援那些困在废墟中的人们，”他在Twitter上表示。

Gabriel Alcivar, mayor of Pedernales, an area of 55,000 people close to the quake’s epicentre, pleaded for authorities to send earthmoving machines and emergency rescue workers as roads were cracked and several of buildings in the town were flattened⁶, trapping residents among the rubble.

靠近震中、人口5.5万人的佩德纳莱斯镇的镇长加布里埃尔?阿尔西瓦(Gabriel Alcivar)请求当局向该市派遣推土机和紧急救援人员，该市的道路裂开，镇内的几栋建筑被夷为平地，将一些居民困在了瓦砾之中。

“This wasn’t just a house that collapsed⁷, it was an entire town,” he told local television.

他告诉当地电视台：“倒塌的不仅仅是一栋房子，是整个镇。”

1 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

2 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

3 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

4 tremor   

n.震动，颤动，战栗，兴奋，地震

参考例句：

• There was a slight tremor in his voice.他的声音有点颤抖。
• A slight earth tremor was felt in California.加利福尼亚发生了轻微的地震。

5 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

6 flattened   

[医]（水）平扁的，弄平的

参考例句：

• She flattened her nose and lips against the window. 她把鼻子和嘴唇紧贴着窗户。
• I flattened myself against the wall to let them pass. 我身体紧靠着墙让他们通过。

7 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。