新西兰英语 736 Solomon Islands earthquake

 　　A strong earthquake hit the Solomon Islands on Wednesday. It was 8.0 on the Richter scale¹ and was followed 40 minutes later by a 7.0 earthquake. This was only 10km deep. There was a small tsunami² – about 1.5 metres high – which killed some elderly³ people and a small child.

　　New Zealand officials gave a tsunami warning⁴ to parts of New Zealand, especially the west coast. They expected a tsunami could reach New Zealand in 5 to 6 hours but that did not happen.

　　There have been many after-shocks in Solomon Islands since the first earthquake. This morning’s after-shock was 6.6 and caused a lot more damage. There are more than 200 islands in the Solomons and communication is difficult. There is probably damage to telephones. Boat travel is dangerous if there is a risk of tsunami. Also the airport at the capital Honiara was closed by flooding.

　　John Key has offered money and help. The islands are in the Pacific Ocean, north-west of New Zealand and east of Papua New Guinea. About 550,000 people live on these islands.

　　Vocabulary

　　?Richter scale – one way of measuring the strength of an earthquake; 8.0 is very strong

　　?tsunami – very high waves caused by an earthquake

　　?reach – get to

　　?communication – contact between people by talking, mail, email, etc

　　?risk – danger

1 scale   

n.比例；程度；范围

参考例句：

• The scale of this map is an inch to a mile.这张地图的比例尺是一英寸代表一英里。
• He's in business on a small scale.他做的是小本生意。

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 elderly   

adj.年老的；年龄相当大的

参考例句：

• He is getting elderly.他逐渐变老了。
• The elderly man is quite energetic.这位上了年纪的老人仍精力充沛。

4 warning   

n.警告，告诫，训诫，警戒，警报

参考例句：

• The other side paid no attention to our warning.对方不重视我方的警告。
• He realized that his doctor was warning him off drink.他意识到医生在告诫他戒酒。