纪录片《为何无法预测地震》 第21期:地震警告

Chaos¹ theory seeks to find an underlying² order

混沌理论探寻的是自然界中

in some of nature's most random³ processes.

某些完全随机事件的内在规律

Weather systems,

气象系统

the way birds flock together,

鸟类群集的方式

or even the distribution of leaves on a tree.

甚至一棵树上的树叶分布

There didn't seem to be any order to earthquakes,

地震看似毫无规律

but Keilis-Borok

但凯列斯勃洛克

brought together scientists from multiple disciplines

召集了其他多个学科的科学家

to study the problem,

开始研究这个问题

including seismologist David Jackson.

其中包括地震学家大卫·杰克逊

Well, the general theory is that

最基本的理论是

when the earth is in a chaotic⁴ state,

当地球处于一种混沌的状态

there will be some features that can be recognised.

将产生某些可被识别的特征

And typically,

一般来说

those features are in the smaller earthquakes that occur,

这些特征存在于发生的较小地震里

and how much a small earthquake brings with it,

它又能引起多少小型地震

some immediate⁵ follow-on earthquake.

以及紧接着发生的余震呢

Looking at some of California's

通过对加利福利亚州

major earthquakes in the past,

曾经发生过的大地震的研究

the UCLA team thought that they could see patterns

加州大学小组认为 这些地震的模式

in the smaller quakes that preceded them.

可以通过先发生的小地震得出

Today, they look for similar patterns,

今天 他们寻找类似的模式

chains of small earthquakes linked

通过将小地震的震级大小和爆发时间

by their size and the time they strike.

联系在一起 形成地震链

If they think they see a new chain

一旦他们发现了和历史数据

that matches their historical data,

相匹配的新地震链

the group then issues an earthquake alarm.

小组就会发出地震警报

1 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

2 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

3 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

4 chaotic   

adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的

参考例句：

• Things have been getting chaotic in the office recently.最近办公室的情况越来越乱了。
• The traffic in the city was chaotic.这城市的交通糟透了。

5 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。