美国有线新闻 CNN 墨西哥强震伤亡惨重 总统宣布国家进入紧急状态

 

AZUZ: A new national emergency is what Mexico's president is calling an earthquake that struck his country on Tuesday. It was the second tremor¹ to shake Mexico in less than two weeks.

This one was a magnitude 7.1 earthquake. Its epicenter, the point on the earth's surface directly above the quake was in central Mexico, about 100 miles southeast of Mexico City and it occurred in a depth of 32 miles, which is considered a shallow earthquake. That's significant because shallow tremors² are usually more destructive.

Damage and deaths were reported across hundreds of miles. At least 225 people were killed in this disaster, across Mexico. But the number could go higher. It's just too soon to know. The country declared three days of mourning for the lives lost.

This quake struck in the afternoon when people are at work and school. In fact, Mexico's government says more than 2,000 schools were damaged by the quake — some of them seriously.

Millions of people have no electricity, and many have moved into shelters with their homes either destroyed or uninhabitable.

The Mexican government says its priorities are rescuing people who are trapped and getting medical help for those who were injured. Residents are helping³ officials in the search for survivors⁴. That's going on around the clock. Water and canned foods are being collected at soccer stadiums and other venues⁵.

SUBTITLE⁶: Five things you should know about earthquakes.

MYERS: Number one, an earthquake occurs when two blocks of the Earth slip past each other. Now, for most of the time, those blocks are together with friction⁷. But they are building up energy because they are moving in different directions. When one block decides to slip, all of a sudden, that energy is released by seismic⁸ waves, kind of like ripples⁹ on a pond, creating the earthquake.

Number two, an earthquake can occur very near the surface of the Earth. Those earthquakes are typically very destructive, or as deep as 400 miles down into the crust. Now, where the shaking actually happens, that's called the hypocenter. But directly above it, on the surface, that's called the epicenter.

Number three, the power of an earthquake is called magnitude. Now, the intensity¹⁰ of he shaking can vary depending on the geography, the typography, or even the depth of the quake.

Now, the USGS says there are 500,000 detectable¹¹ quakes every year. One hundred thousand can be felt and 100 will create damage.

Number four, earthquake themselves actually don't kill that many people. It's the natural and manmade structures that fall to the ground during the shaking that injure and kill.

Number five, the majority of all earthquakes and volcanoes happen along plate boundaries. The largest is the Pacific plate and its series of boundaries all along the Pacific Ocean known as the Ring of Fire.

1 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。

2 tremors   

震颤( tremor的名词复数 )； 战栗； 震颤声； 大地的轻微震动

参考例句：

• The story was so terrible that It'sent tremors down my spine. 这故事太可怕，它使我不寒而栗。
• The story was so terrible that it sent tremors down my spine. 这故事太可怕，它使我不寒而栗。

3 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

4 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

5 venues   

n.聚集地点( venue的名词复数 )；会场；（尤指）体育比赛场所；犯罪地点

参考例句：

• The band will be playing at 20 different venues on their UK tour. 这个乐队在英国巡回演出期间将在20个不同的地点演出。
• Farmers market corner, 800 meters long, 60 meters wide livestock trading venues. 农牧市场东北角，有长800米，宽60米的牲畜交易场地。 来自互联网

6 subtitle   

n.副题（书本中的），说明对白的字幕

参考例句：

• His new book has a subtitle.他的新书有一个副标题。
• Ah!I don't know why they don't subtitle these movies.唉！我不知道这些电影为什么不打字幕。

7 friction   

n.摩擦，摩擦力

参考例句：

• When Joan returned to work,the friction between them increased.琼回来工作后，他们之间的摩擦加剧了。
• Friction acts on moving bodies and brings them to a stop.摩擦力作用于运动着的物体，并使其停止。

8 seismic   

a.地震的，地震强度的

参考例句：

• Earthquakes produce two types of seismic waves.地震产生两种地震波。
• The latest seismic activity was also felt in northern Kenya.肯尼亚北部也感觉到了最近的地震活动。

9 ripples   

逐渐扩散的感觉( ripple的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The moon danced on the ripples. 月亮在涟漪上舞动。
• The sea leaves ripples on the sand. 海水在沙滩上留下了波痕。

10 intensity   

n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度

参考例句：

• I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings on this issue.我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋。
• The strike is growing in intensity.罢工日益加剧。

11 detectable   

adj.可发觉的；可查明的

参考例句：

• The noise is barely detectable by the human ear.人的耳朵几乎是察觉不到这种噪音的。
• The inflection point at this PH is barely detectable.在此PH值下，拐点不易发现。