VOA慢速英语2017--墨西哥城将向手机发送地震预警

Mexico City Now Sends Earthquake Warnings to Phones

Mexico City has made changes to its emergency announcement service known as 911 CDMX.

The service now sends messages to people’s smartphones warning them of earthquakes.

The changes come after a magnitude 7.1 earthquake hit Mexico’s capital on September 19. The quake killed 369 people and caused 38 buildings to collapse¹.

Officials announced the new smartphone program last week. Mayor Miguel Angel Mancera said users of the free 911 CDMX program will receive messages for any earthquake strong enough to damage the city.

The program will send sound messages and cause the smartphone to vibrate.

The governmental center known as C5, for Command, Control Computing², Communications and Contact developed the program. It is available for both iOS and Android smartphone operating systems.

Mancera said at a news conference there would be no demonstration³ of the system to avoid causing any unnecessary worry.

“We are not interested in having anyone hear it who does not know the context in which it is being presented,” he said.

More than 20 million people live in the capital and surrounding area. Many buildings there are built on a former lake bottom. Its soil can increase the effects of earthquakes which are centered far away. Shockwaves from such earthquakes may arrive at the city later.

Early in September, an earthquake that was stronger than the one that hit Mexico City was centered hundreds of miles away. The United States Geological survey recently changed the record of its magnitude from 8.1 to 8.2. And many people in the capital felt it strongly.

Mexico City already has a system of loudspeakers that give out a warning whenever a serious earthquake is detected.

Idris Rodriguez Zapata is the general coordinator⁴ for C5. He urged residents to put the new 911 CDMX program on their smartphones. He also said they should pay attention to earthquake instructions at the moment they hear announcements on the loudspeakers or their phones.

Mancera said there had been reports of people setting their smartphone ringtones to the sound of the new earthquake warning. He urged them not do so to avoid causing worry.

The 911 CDMX program has other uses. It lets users see messages about earthquake activity on the website Twitter. It also can put them in contact with an emergency worker and lets them register their blood type and medical history.

I’m Pete Musto.

Words in This Story

smartphone(s) – n. a mobile telephone that can be used to send and receive e-mail, connect to the Internet, and take photographs

magnitude – n. a number that shows the power of an earthquake

vibrate – v. to move back and forth⁵ or from side to side with very short, quick movements

context – n. the situation in which something happens

loudspeaker(s) – n. a device that is used to make sound, such as music or a person's voice, louder and to send it out so that many people can hear it in a public space

ringtone(s) – n. the sound that a cell phone makes when someone is calling

1 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。

2 computing   

n.计算

参考例句：

• to work in computing 从事信息处理
• Back in the dark ages of computing, in about 1980, they started a software company. 早在计算机尚未普及的时代（约1980年），他们就创办了软件公司。

3 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

4 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

5 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。