VOA慢速英语2016 日本再遭地震袭击

AS IT IS 2016-04-16 Second Quake Hits Japan 日本再遭地震袭击

A second powerful earthquake struck southern Japan early Saturday.

周六清晨日本南部再次发生了强震。

The quake caused the Japan Meteorological Agency to give and then cancel a tsunami¹ warning for the area.

日本气象局因此对该地区发布了海啸预警，随后又取消了预警。

The magnitude² 7.0 earthquake struck near the city of Kumamoto on the island of Kyushu.Magnitude is a measure of the energy released during an earthquake.

此次7.0级地震发生在九州岛的熊本市。震级是用来衡量地震过程中所释放能量的方式。

Rescue workers have been searching wreckage³ from an earlier 6.5 magnitude earthquake that hit the same area Thursday.

周四本地区遭遇6.5级地震，救援人员一直都在废墟中搜索。

More than 100 aftershocks have been felt since then.

自那之后，已发生了100多次余震。

An eight-month-old baby girl was trapped in a house damaged by the earlier quake.Nearly 50 rescuers were involved in the effort to pull the child from the rubble⁴ early Friday.

一名8个月大的女婴由于之前的地震被困屋中。周五早晨，约有50名救援人员一起努力试着将女婴从屋中救出。

About 1,600 soldiers have joined nearly 2,000 police officers and 1,300 firefighters in the recovery effort.

约有1600名士兵、近2000名警员和1300名消防员参与了灾后恢复工作。

Japanese government spokesman⁵ Yoshihide Suga said Friday that the quake killed at least nine people and injured more than 800 others.

周五日本政府发言人Yoshihide Suga表示，在此次地震中，至少造成9人死亡，另有800多人受伤。

The quakes have destroyed houses and damaged roads.Damage was severe in the town of Mashiki.Eight of the dead lived in the town, which is about 1,300 kilometers southwest of Tokyo.

地震造成房屋倒塌，路面断裂。益城町的灾情最为严重。死亡的人口中有8名居住在该城，该城市位于东京西南方1300千米处。

Japanese officials said no damage was reported at nearby nuclear power centers.

日本官员表示核电站处并未受损。

Television reports of the first earthquake showed fires and interviews with Mashiki residents.

电视节目对第一次地震进行了报道，呈现了火灾画面，以及对益城町居民的采访情况。

“The whole house shook violently sideways,” Takahiko Morita, a Mashiki resident, said to one broadcaster.“Furniture and bookshelves fell down.Books were all over the floor.”

“整个房子晃动的厉害。” 益城町居民Takahiko Morita接受记者采访时说道。“家具和书架倒了下来。书散了一地。”

Aftershocks have slowed the recovery efforts.Water service was stopped in some areas, forcing some people to bring water from offices to their homes.

余震影响了救援工作的进程。一些地区的水供应服务被迫停止，有些人不得不到办公室打水。

Words in This Story

aftershock – n. a smaller earthquake that occurs after a larger one

interview – n. a meeting between a reporter and another person in order to get information for a news story

1 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。

2 magnitude   

n.大小；重大；星等

参考例句：

• I want to know the magnitude of this equipment.我想知道这个设备的大小。
• I hadn't realized the magnitude of the problem.我没有认识到这个问题的重要性。

3 wreckage   

n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏

参考例句：

• They hauled him clear of the wreckage.他们把他从形骸中拖出来。
• New states were born out of the wreckage of old colonial empires.新生国家从老殖民帝国的废墟中诞生。

4 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。

5 spokesman   

n.发言人，代言人

参考例句：

• The government spokesman gave a quick briefing to the reporters.政府发言人向记者们作了情况简介。
• They drew lots to decide who should be their spokesman.他们抽签决定谁是他们的发言人。