美国有线新闻 CNN 地震夷平意大利小镇 解读地震预警系统

 

play pause stop mute unmute max volume 00:0002:36repeat repeat off Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser¹ to a recent version or update your Flash plugin. The mayor of Amatrice, which is located in central Italy, says his town is no more. When a powerful 6.2 magnitude earthquake struck early Wednesday, Amatrice was at the epicenter. That's the point in the earth's surface directly above where the earthquake occurred. The town's clock tower, its time stopped at the moment the earthquake hit, was one of the only structures still standing². Rescue efforts have been going on around the clock.

Volunteers have been using their bare hands to dig through rubble³. There are several Italian villages that were affected⁴. They're in remote mountainous areas that can be hard to reach.

Italy's prime minister says the quake killed at least 120 people, but warned that toll⁵ could increase. The quake was felt as far away as Rome, 100 miles from the epicenter. And dozens of aftershocks have been reported. Pope Francis asked people to pray for those affected.

Earthquakes are entirely⁶ unpredictable. There are warning systems that can save some lives, but only under certain conditions.

CHAD MYERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: If you're in an epicenter of an earthquake, you're going to get no warning. There's no time for that.

The warning depends on the distance you are to the earthquake epicenter.

SUBTITLE⁷: Earthquake early warning system.

MYERS: An early warning system for earthquakes is expensive and also complex. Part of the problem is we don't have a system that can predict the earth is going to move. Our warming system is based on the fact that the earth is already moving and then if you're farther away from that epicenter, we can give you some time to prepare. Some minor⁸ time but some time.

Unlike a tornado⁹ warning where Doppler Radar¹⁰ can see the rotation¹¹ and issue a warning before the tornado, an earthquake warning happens when the earthquake is already shaking. Another limitation is how close the sensor¹² is to the epicenter. If the sensor is 10 miles away from the epicenter, it takes five seconds to get to that sensor. So, the more sensors¹³ we get, the better the lead time we'll get as well.

If we get 10 seconds notice of an earthquake that's happening, especially a big one, you can open up the elevators on the nearest floor. You can stop trains. You can stop all those things that are moving before the shaking gets there.

This entire system works because of the speed of light, or the speed of the warning going down the line, is 186,000 miles per second. The earth as it's wiggling and shaking along is going at 2 miles per second.

So, if you're 30 miles away, your warning could be 15 seconds. It's 15 seconds that could save your life.

1 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

2 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

3 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。

4 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

5 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。

6 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

7 subtitle   

n.副题（书本中的），说明对白的字幕

参考例句：

• His new book has a subtitle.他的新书有一个副标题。
• Ah!I don't know why they don't subtitle these movies.唉！我不知道这些电影为什么不打字幕。

8 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

9 tornado   

n.飓风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• A tornado whirled into the town last week.龙卷风上周袭击了这座城市。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。

10 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。

11 rotation   

n.旋转；循环，轮流

参考例句：

• Crop rotation helps prevent soil erosion.农作物轮作有助于防止水土流失。
• The workers in this workshop do day and night shifts in weekly rotation.这个车间的工人上白班和上夜班每周轮换一次。

12 sensor   

n.传感器，探测设备，感觉器（官）

参考例句：

• The temperature sensor is enclosed in a protective well.温度传感器密封在保护套管中。
• He plugged the sensor into a outlet.他把传感器插进电源插座。

13 sensors   

n.传感器，灵敏元件( sensor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were more than 2000 sensors here. 这里装有两千多个灵敏元件。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Significant changes have been noted where sensors were exposed to trichloride. 当传感器暴露在三氯化物中时，有很大变化。 来自辞典例句