VOA标准英语2009年-Indonesia Quake Death Toll Rises, Scores S

The death toll¹ from an earthquake in Indonesia has reached 57 with scores injured and missing. Casualty figures could increase.
　
Rescuers search for victims after an earthquake-triggered landslide² hit a village in Cianjur, West Java, Indonesia, 03 Sep 2009

Indonesian rescue workers searched by hand through rubble³ Thursday looking for trapped survivors⁴ from Wednesday's earthquake.

Authorities say heavy digging equipment is headed to the worst-hit areas of western Java, but time is running out for scores buried under collapsed⁵ buildings and landslides⁶.

VOA's Jakarta correspondent, Brian Padden, is in the village of Civinong in Java's Cianjur district, the area most damaged by the quake.

"The scene here at the bottom of the hill where hundreds of houses have been destroyed by a landslide caused by the earthquake, the scene is one of rescue, it's just pure rescue effort that seems devoid⁷ of emotion," Padden said. "I found no family members weeping or crying but people looking, probably hoping, looking for those that are lost."

The earthquake had a magnitude of seven and was felt hundreds of miles away and in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta.

Indonesian foreign affairs spokesman Teuku Faizasyah says the quake flattened⁸ an estimated 13,000 buildings, including about 5,000 homes. Thousands more were damaged.

He says casualty figures may increase as rescue workers have not yet reached some remote areas.

"In this period we are concentrating on the rescue and providing basic necessities for the victims," Faizasyah said. "We haven't yet received any comprehensive report from the field. But, it looks [like] things [are] still moving on. So, we are not anticipating crisis in the near future. But, it looks we've still managed to handle the situation quite well."

Indonesian authorities issued a tsunami⁹ warning shortly after the quake but it was later canceled.

Indonesia is on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire where several tectonic plates meet and often cause earthquakes.

An earthquake off Java in 2006 triggered a tsunami that killed about 600 people on the island's southern coast. And a quake and tsunami off Aceh in 2004 led to more than 200,000 deaths around the Indian Ocean.

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 landslide   

n.(竞选中)压倒多数的选票；一面倒的胜利

参考例句：

• Our candidate is predicated to win by a landslide.我们的候选人被预言将以绝对优势取胜。
• An electoral landslide put the Labour Party into power in 1945.1945年工党以压倒多数的胜利当选执政。

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 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

5 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。

6 landslides   

山崩( landslide的名词复数 )； （山坡、悬崖等的）崩塌； 滑坡； （竞选中）一方选票占压倒性多数

参考例句：

• Landslides have cut off many villages in remote areas. 滑坡使边远地区的许多村庄与外界隔绝。
• The storm caused landslides and flooding in Savona. 风暴致使萨沃纳发生塌方和洪灾。

7 devoid   

adj.全无的，缺乏的

参考例句：

• He is completely devoid of humour.他十分缺乏幽默。
• The house is totally devoid of furniture.这所房子里什么家具都没有。

8 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。

9 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。