VOA标准英语2009年-Indonesian Earthquake Kills More Than 700

By Chris Simkins
Washington
01 October 2009

Indonesian officials say the death toll¹ from Wednesday's powerful earthquake continues to rise, and thousands remain trapped under collapsed² buildings on the island of Sumatra. So far at least 770 people are confirmed dead and the numbers are likely to climb higher as rescue workers search for more victims beneath the rubble³ of destroyed buildings.

 
Indonesian soldiers and rescue workers search for earthquake victims trapped under a destroyed building in Padang, West Sumatra, Indonesia, 01 Oct 2009
This was the chaotic⁴ scene in the city of Padang in Sumatra as terrified residents ran for safety when the 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck on Wednesday. Less than 24 hours later another major earthquake shook communities in another part of the island Thursday, triggering more panic among local residents and tourists.

"I was just finished taking a shower, and felt the floor shaking of the little bungalow," said German tourist Christian⁵ Effenberger. "And I ran out to a little place where everyone had already been summoned to get out of the houses and then we felt the sandy floor shaking in waves."

Indonesian television stations broadcast images of the devastation⁶ showing scores of collapsed buildings, burning houses and rescue workers scrambling⁷ to find survivors⁸ beneath mounds⁹ of rubble. Crews were able to pull some people from the debris¹⁰ alive.

So far, most of the deaths have been reported in this city of 900,000 residents. Officials say at least 500 buildings were flattened¹¹ by the quake.

Indonesia's president says the government is responding quickly to the disaster.

"We are working on the emergency action plan," said Indonesia President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. "I have communicated with the Social Welfare Minister, Army Chief, and the Health Minister. This is important because we need doctors and paramedics to be sent. "

 
Indonesian soldiers carry an earthquake victim's body in Padang, West Sumatra, Indonesia, 01 Oct 2009
The two earthquakes in Indonesia follow a strong quake and tsunami¹² that hit the South Pacific islands of Samoa and American Samoa. Seismologist Stuart Sipkin with the US National Earthquake Center says he's not surprised by the string of quakes in these regions.

"The area around Samoa and the area off the coast of Sumatra are both highly seismically¹³ active, they do tend to cluster and so it's very often you'll see large earthquakes happening in a short period of time," he explained.

Indonesian officials say they expect the numbers of dead and injured to climb in the coming days because of the large amount of destruction in very populated areas. They say their priorities now are saving lives and getting emergency aid to communities that need it the most.

1 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。

2 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。

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 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 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

6 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》

7 scrambling   

v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Scrambling up her hair, she darted out of the house. 她匆忙扎起头发，冲出房去。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• She is scrambling eggs. 她正在炒蛋。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

9 mounds   

土堆，土丘( mound的名词复数 )； 一大堆

参考例句：

• We had mounds of tasteless rice. 我们有成堆成堆的淡而无味的米饭。
• Ah! and there's the cemetery' - cemetery, he must have meant. 'You see the mounds? 啊，这就是同墓，”——我想他要说的一定是公墓，“看到那些土墩了吗？

10 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

11 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。

12 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。

13 seismically   

地震

参考例句：

• The crust and mantle are separated by a seismically determined boundary known as the Moho-discontinuity. 改译为：地壳与地幔的交接处系根据地波走失而确定的一个界面，通称为莫霍界面。 来自互联网
• China's code is now on par with similar codes in seismically active areas of the world. 中国现在施行的标准与世界其他地震活跃地区施行的标准基本一致。 来自互联网