科学美国人60秒 月球引力拖拽不会引起大地震

On March 27th, 1964, a huge earthquake struck the Prince William Sound, off the coast of Alaska. "Out in the gulf¹ of Alaska, the ocean bottom plunges², then heaves upward a full 50 feet, and a wave starts racing³ toward the shore…

1964年3月27日，阿拉斯加海岸的威廉王子湾发生了一次大地震。“CLIP：”在阿拉斯加海湾里，海底陷入深渊，然后向上仰起整整50英尺，一股浪潮开始冲向岸边。”

In 2016, Japanese researchers concluded that large earthquakes might indeed be more likely to occur during times of significant tidal stress… when it's either a new or full moon. And the news rumbled⁴ through the media, despite the study's small sample size, of just a dozen large quakes.

在2016年，日本研究人员得出结论称，大地震更有可能发生在有重大潮汐的时候......无论是新月还是满月。尽管研究的样本量很小，但仍然通过媒体造成了十几个大地震。

Now seismologist Susan Hough of the U.S. Geological Survey has done a much larger analysis. She plotted more than 200 big quakes--magnitude 8.0 or above--over the past four centuries, looking to see if they were more likely to strike on certain days of the year, or during key phases of the moon. The answer, neatly⁵ summed up in the study's one-word abstract? "No."

现在美国地质调查局的地震学家Susan Hough做了一个更大的分析。在过去的四个世纪里，她绘制了超过200次8.0级以上的大地震图谱，看看是否有可能在一年中的某些日子里，或月球引力的关键时期发生地震。在研究的摘要中整齐地概括了答案?“没有。”

The study is in the journal Seismological Research Letters. That's not to say we don't know of certain factors that actually do increase the risk of quakes. Hough says the ground injection of wastewater, oil and gas production, fracking, and damming up waterways can in some cases cause quakes. Just don't blame it on the moon.

这项研究结果发表在《地震学研究通讯》杂志上。这并不是说，我们不知道某些因素实际上增加了地震的风险。Hough说，地面注入废水，石油和天然气生产出来，水力压裂并堵塞了水道，在某些情况下可能导致地震。只是不要把帐算在月球上。

1 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

2 plunges   

n.跳进，投入vt.使投入，使插入，使陷入vi.投入，跳进，陷入v.颠簸( plunge的第三人称单数 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• Even before he plunges into his program, he has his audience in his pocket. 他的节目甚至还没有出场，就已控制住了观众。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• 'Monseigneur, he precipitated himself over the hill-side, head first, as a person plunges into the river.' “大人，他头冲下跳下山坡去了，像往河里跳一样。” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

3 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

4 rumbled   

发出隆隆声，发出辘辘声( rumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 轰鸣着缓慢行进； 发现…的真相； 看穿（阴谋）

参考例句：

• The machine rumbled as it started up. 机器轰鸣着发动起来。
• Things rapidly became calm, though beneath the surface the argument rumbled on. 事情迅速平静下来了，然而，在这种平静的表面背后争论如隆隆雷声，持续不断。

5 neatly   

adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地

参考例句：

• Sailors know how to wind up a long rope neatly.水手们知道怎样把一条大绳利落地缠好。
• The child's dress is neatly gathered at the neck.那孩子的衣服在领口处打着整齐的皱褶。