欧美文化博览 走进墨西哥(3)（在线收听）

When a quake registers as at least 6.0, it activates a site of monitoring station. When at least two stations are activated, they relay a signal to Mexico city, automatically triggering an alarm. In Mexico city, distance equals time. The city salvation lies in grade school Algebra and it's already worked.

当一次地震的震级至少为6.0时，一处监测站就会被激活。当两处监测站被激活时，这就向墨西哥城传递一个信号,那就是自动触发警报。在墨西哥城,距离等于时间。城市的救赎在阿尔奇巴小学已经开始并且已经奏效。

September 14th, 1995, 8:04am, from the Pacific, a fierce quake founders a shore. In 13 seconds, it registers on station 11, four seconds later, on station 12. A quake measured 7.3 on the Richter scale and it's moving toward Mexico city at 12 times the speed of the world's fastest commerical jet. But the SAS alert beats the quake to the city by 72 seconds. Not one resident is killed.

1995年9月14日早上8:04，来自太平洋的猛烈地震登陆。在13秒内，11号监测站被激活,4秒之后是12号监测站。该地震被测量为里氏7.3级,它朝墨西哥城进发，其速度比世界上最快的商业飞机还快12倍。但SAS地震警报显示地震来到城市72秒，居然没有一个居民死亡。

When the alarm sounds, a carefully celerograph movement begins. Buildings empty, subways shut down. To avoid fires, power is cut and gas lines are closed. Rescue workers scramble. But Mexico city's entire civil defence depends on the thin red line of sentinels, the earthquake sensors on the coast. If they fail, a quake would hit with no warning at all.

当报警响起,一场精心准备的疏散运动开始。建筑腾空、地铁关闭。为了避免火灾，电力被切断，天然气被关闭。救援人员开始行动。但墨西哥城市的整个民防就取决于这根细细的红线哨兵，即海岸的地震传感器。如果它们失败，一个地震会在城市茫然无知的情况下袭来。

To prevent failures, the sensors are routinely inspected. Today, it's a sensor at the Saint Peter station near Acapulco. For Rovato Islas, just getting there, is shaky.

为了防止失败，传感器经常要接受常规检查。现在，这是位于Acapulco火车站旁的一个传感器。对于刚刚建在那里的Rovato Islas，还有点靠不住。