美国国家公共电台 NPR--Earthquake strikes Turkey and Syria: Buildings collapsed for hundreds of miles

Earthquake strikes Turkey and Syria: Buildings collapsed¹ for hundreds of miles

Transcript²

Search-and-rescue efforts were underway as the death toll³ soared from the powerful earthquake that hit southeastern Turkey and northern Syria early Monday.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

Multiple earthquakes and aftershocks have struck southeast Turkey in recent hours. The first delivered a magnitude of 7.8. It hit while many were sleeping, and the devastation⁴ spread to nearby Syria. Videos showed people running in darkness and rain surrounded by flattened⁵ buildings.

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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Speaking Arabic).

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Afterward⁶, people felt multiple aftershocks, including one that nearly equaled the force of the original quake. Across southern Turkey and northern Syria, the reported death toll has climbed above 1,000.

MART?NEZ: NPR's Ruth Sherlock joins us now from Lebanon. Ruth, did you feel those earthquakes where you're at?

RUTH SHERLOCK, BYLINE⁷: Hi. Well, yes, I did. It was about 3:20 a.m. my time, and I woke up, and our whole building was swaying. So my husband and I grabbed our children and ran outside. Of course, we were fine. But then I started hearing, just as you say, just how bad it was in Turkey and in Syria. You know, the epicenter was just north of Gaziantep. That's a provincial⁸ capital in Turkey with a million - oh, sorry - with a population of more than 2 million people.

And, A, to put this into perspective for you, the force of this earthquake - there have been reports of buildings collapsed in an area that spans 200 miles around the epicenter. In Gaziantep, I'm told there's extensive damage in the older parts of the city. And then residential⁹ buildings have also collapsed in Adana, Diyarbakir and other cities. And in these places, people tried to escape in their cars, but that just jammed the roads and made it harder for emergency services to help the wounded. And then just now, a few hours after the first earthquake, there's been a tremor¹⁰ almost as powerful as the first one, almost in the same area. Videos shared online show, you know, more buildings collapsing¹¹.

MART?NEZ: OK. So that's Turkey. What about the situation in Syria?

SHERLOCK: Well, the Syrian government says there's been widespread destruction across the provinces of Aleppo, Hama, Latakia. And the earthquakes also devastated¹² parts of the country that had been taken by the opposition¹³ in the civil war that's still going on there. We reached Raed Saleh. He's the head of the White Helmets. That's a civil defense¹⁴ group that works in these areas.

RAED SALEH: (Speaking Arabic).

SHERLOCK: He's saying, "truthfully, the situation is disastrous¹⁵." He gave us a long list of the names of towns and villages. And he says in all these areas, buildings have fallen to the ground. Families are trapped under the rubble¹⁶. Videos from this part of northern Syria show a whole street essentially¹⁷ flattened. And as I've mentioned, all of this comes after more than a decade of war. So lots of people in northern Syria have fled fighting from other parts of the country. And of the population of about 4 million people there, the U.N. says 3 million people can't easily access food. And that was even before the earthquake.

MART?NEZ: You know, Ruth, there's going to be thousands, at least, that are going to need help and fast. What are you hearing about rescue operations?

SHERLOCK: Well, Turkey's president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has says in addition to, you know, their own rescue efforts, they've received offers of help from 45 countries. President Biden has asked the USAID and other aid groups to assess how they can help the worst-hit areas. Turkey says in an assessment¹⁸, so far, 3,000 buildings have collapsed.

In northern Syria, though, you know, efforts are hampered¹⁹ by the fact that four hospitals have had to be evacuated²⁰ because of damage. And I'm told, you know, the rest are totally overwhelmed. Some of the doctors themselves have lost families in all this. This area has been hit badly by airstrikes by the Syrian regime and Russia, including its medical centers. Doctors had set up those centers underground to protect from airstrikes, but that has not made things easier in an earthquake.

MART?NEZ: NPR's Ruth Sherlock in Lebanon. Ruth, thanks.

SHERLOCK: Thank you.

1 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

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 flattened   

[医]（水）平扁的，弄平的

参考例句：

• She flattened her nose and lips against the window. 她把鼻子和嘴唇紧贴着窗户。
• I flattened myself against the wall to let them pass. 我身体紧靠着墙让他们通过。

6 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

7 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

8 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

9 residential   

adj.提供住宿的；居住的；住宅的

参考例句：

• The mayor inspected the residential section of the city.市长视察了该市的住宅区。
• The residential blocks were integrated with the rest of the college.住宿区与学院其他部分结合在了一起。

10 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。

11 collapsing   

压扁[平]，毁坏，断裂

参考例句：

• Rescuers used props to stop the roof of the tunnel collapsing. 救援人员用支柱防止隧道顶塌陷。
• The rocks were folded by collapsing into the center of the trough. 岩石由于坍陷进入凹槽的中心而发生褶皱。

12 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

13 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

14 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

15 disastrous   

adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的

参考例句：

• The heavy rainstorm caused a disastrous flood.暴雨成灾。
• Her investment had disastrous consequences.She lost everything she owned.她的投资结果很惨，血本无归。

16 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。

17 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。

18 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

19 hampered   

妨碍，束缚，限制( hamper的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The search was hampered by appalling weather conditions. 恶劣的天气妨碍了搜寻工作。
• So thought every harassed, hampered, respectable boy in St. Petersburg. 圣彼德堡镇的那些受折磨、受拘束的体面孩子们个个都是这么想的。

20 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。