Quake-Stricken Area of Japan Experiences Aftershocks, Dramat

 

By Steve Herman

A powerful aftershock has rattled¹ the quake-scarred region in Japan's Niigata Prefecture where more than 30 people have died and 100,000 have been homeless for four days. Meanwhile all of Japan watched rescuers pull a little boy alive from a vehicle buried since Saturday's initial tremor².

The powerful aftershock, the strongest in the past four days, registered 6.1 on the Richter Scale, and caused panic among many survivors³.

Traumatized survivors in makeshift shelters threw themselves to the floor, screaming as they huddled⁴ together to wait out the latest of hundreds of aftershocks to hit the region since the initial jolt⁵ on Saturday.

At least five people were reported injured and some buildings were damaged, but casualties were minimized because few people in the hardest-hit communities were in their homes.

The morning-time tremor did prompt an emergency order for a thousand rail passengers to evacuate⁶ the train station in the town of Nagaoka, which officials said was in danger of collapse⁷.

At a news conference later in the day, Masahiro Yamamoto, earthquake section chief of the Japan Meteorological Agency, pleaded with residents in the Niigata region who evacuated⁸ their homes on Saturday not to return yet.

Mr. Yamamoto says another quake of similar strength could be just hours or days away.

Amid the gloom, there was a bit of joy just hours after the huge aftershock.

In a dramatic scene broadcast live on all five national television networks, firemen worked amid the aftershocks to pull a two-year-old boy out of a crushed van. The vehicle, also carrying his mother and three-year-old sister, had been buried on a steep incline under large rocks after a quake-triggered landslide⁹.

The boy, trapped for 90 hours and covered with mud, was hoisted¹⁰ in a rescue basket to a helicopter hovering¹¹ above the pulverized¹² rural highway. But firemen say neither the mother nor the daughter had a pulse by the time they were reached. Earlier in the day the rescue team had said its specialized¹³ equipment had detected three distinct heartbeats.

Officials are calling the boy's rescue the second miracle of this series of quakes. Transportation experts expressed astonishment¹⁴ that none of the 151 passengers aboard a bullet train were injured when the train derailed at high speed during the initial Saturday evening tremor.

Steve Herman, VOA News, Tokyo.注释：
aftershock 余震
rattle 使不安
Niigata 新滹（日本本州岛中北岸港市）
tremor 地震
Richter Scale 里克特震级
panic 恐慌
traumatize 使受伤害
makeshift 暂时的
shelter 避难所
huddle 蜷缩在一起
jolt 摇晃
casualty 人员伤亡
evacuate 疏散
Nagaoka 长冈（日本本州岛中北部城市）
Japan Meteorological Agency 日本气象厅
firemen 消防员
van 货车
landslide 崩塌的泥石
hoist 升起，吊起
miracle 奇迹
astonishment 惊讶
derail 出轨

 

1 rattled   

慌乱的，恼火的

参考例句：

• The truck jolted and rattled over the rough ground. 卡车嘎吱嘎吱地在凹凸不平的地面上颠簸而行。
• Every time a bus went past, the windows rattled. 每逢公共汽车经过这里，窗户都格格作响。

2 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。

3 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

4 huddled   

挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• We huddled together for warmth. 我们挤在一块取暖。
• We huddled together to keep warm. 我们挤在一起来保暖。

5 jolt   

v.（使）摇动，（使）震动，（使）颠簸

参考例句：

• We were worried that one tiny jolt could worsen her injuries.我们担心稍微颠簸一下就可能会使她的伤势恶化。
• They were working frantically in the fear that an aftershock would jolt the house again.他们拼命地干着，担心余震可能会使房子再次受到震动。

6 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

7 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

8 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

9 landslide   

n.(竞选中)压倒多数的选票；一面倒的胜利

参考例句：

• Our candidate is predicated to win by a landslide.我们的候选人被预言将以绝对优势取胜。
• An electoral landslide put the Labour Party into power in 1945.1945年工党以压倒多数的胜利当选执政。

10 hoisted   

把…吊起，升起( hoist的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He hoisted himself onto a high stool. 他抬身坐上了一张高凳子。
• The sailors hoisted the cargo onto the deck. 水手们把货物吊到甲板上。

11 hovering   

鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫

参考例句：

• The helicopter was hovering about 100 metres above the pad. 直升机在离发射台一百米的上空盘旋。
• I'm hovering between the concert and the play tonight. 我犹豫不决今晚是听音乐会还是看戏。

12 pulverized   

adj.[医]雾化的，粉末状的v.将…弄碎( pulverize的过去式和过去分词 )；将…弄成粉末或尘埃；摧毁；粉碎

参考例句：

• We pulverized the opposition. 我们彻底击败了对手。
• He pulverized the opposition with the force of his oratory. 他能言善辩把对方驳得体无完肤。 来自辞典例句

13 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。

14 astonishment   

n.惊奇，惊异

参考例句：

• They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
• I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。