万物简史 第300期:地下的烈火(8)

 　　As you will gather from this, measuring earthquakes is not always an exact science, particularly when interpreting readings from remote locations. 你从中可以知道，测量地震并不总是一门很精确的科学，尤其在牵涉到解释来自远方的读数的情况下。

　　At all events, both quakes were whopping. 反正这两次地震都是很大的。

　　The 1960 quake not only caused widespread damage across coastal¹ South America, 1960年的地震不但给南美洲西部的沿海地区造成大面积破坏，

　　but also set off a giant tsunami² that rolled six thousand miles across the Pacific  而且引起了巨大的海啸。海啸在太平洋上波及了差不多1万公里，

　　and slapped away much of downtown Hilo, Hawaii, destroying five hundred buildings and killing³ sixty people. 冲进夏威夷岛希洛市区的许多地方，毁坏了500栋楼房，造成60人死亡。

　　Similar wave surges claimed yet more victims as far away as Japan and the Philippines. 类似的惊涛骇浪抵达遥远的日本和菲律宾，使更多人丧生。

　　For pure, focused, devastation⁴, however, probably the most intense earthquake in recorded history 然而，完全从集中的破坏程度来说，历史上有记载的最强烈的地震，

　　was one that struck and essentially⁵ shook to pieces—Lisbon, Portugal, on All Saints Day (November 1), 1755. 很可能是1775年万圣节(11月1日)发生在葡萄牙里斯本的那一次。那次地震实际上把里斯本变成一片瓦砾。

　　Just before ten in the morning, the city was hit by a sudden sideways lurch⁶  快到上午10点钟的时候，那个城市突然左右摇晃。

　　now estimated at magnitude 9.0 and shaken ferociously⁷ for seven full minutes. 强烈的摇晃持续了足足7分钟。现在估计，那次地震的震级为9级。

　　The convulsive force was so great that the water rushed out of the city's harbor and returned in a wave fifty feet high, adding to the destruction. 震动的威力是如此之大，该市港口里的海水汹涌而出，接着又以15米多高的巨浪返回，造成更多的破坏。

　　When at last the motion ceased, survivors⁸ enjoyed just three minutes of calm before a second shock came, only slightly less severe than the first. 等震动终于停下来，幸存者们仅仅享受了三分钟的平静，接着又发生了第二次地震，强度只是比第一次稍稍小一点。

　　A third and final shock followed two hours later. 第三次即最后一次地震发生在两个小时之后。

　　At the end of it all, sixty thousand people were dead and virtually every building for miles reduced to rubble⁹.  到一切结束的时候，有6万人死亡，方圆几公里范围以内实际上每栋楼房都被夷为平地。

1 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

2 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

3 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

4 devastation   

n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤

参考例句：

• The bomb caused widespread devastation. 炸弹造成大面积破坏。
• There was devastation on every side. 到处都是破坏的创伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

6 lurch   

n.突然向前或旁边倒；v.蹒跚而行

参考例句：

• It has been suggested that the ground movements were a form of lurch movements.地震的地面运动曾被认为是一种突然倾斜的运动形式。
• He walked with a lurch.他步履蹒跚。

7 ferociously   

野蛮地，残忍地

参考例句：

• The buck shook his antlers ferociously. 那雄鹿猛烈地摇动他的鹿角。
• At intervals, he gritted his teeth ferociously. 他不时狠狠的轧平。

8 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

9 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。