CNN 2011-03-15

We're dedicating this edition of CNN Student News to our audience in Japan. The world is watching in support, and you are not alone.

The nation of Japan is reeling today, trying to recover from a devastating¹ natural disaster. The earthquake hit the island nation on Friday. It registered a magnitude of 8.9. That makes it the most powerful quake to hit Japan in at least 100 years. There were reports over the weekend that the quake moved the main of island of Japan -- the entire island -- by 8 feet!

And this is what it left behind: scenes of destruction. On Sunday, officials estimated that more than 1,500 people had been killed; more than 1,900 injured; more than 1,500 more missing. Those estimates all expected to go up. And the worst may not be over. Witnesses have reported feeling aftershocks. And scientists in Japan say that there's a strong chance of another quake, one with a magnitude of 7.0 or higher, hitting in the next few days.

Just to get a sense of what this was like, take a listen to this iReport. This was shot by someone outside his house. You can hear the crashes as the area is rattled² by the quake. Something just as devastating as the quake was the tsunami³ -- this giant ocean wave -- that the quake caused. It slammed into the Japanese coast, washing over cities and leaving death and destruction behind it.

The northeastern part of the country took the worst of it. This is what the water looked like rushing into one city. Some areas were completely flattened⁴, with foundations the only sign of the buildings that once stood on them. You might think of a tsunami as this towering tidal wave that crashes down on shore. That's not what this was. Tsunamis⁵ are more accurately⁶ described as these "walls of water" that push onto shore and plow⁷ through anything they hit. Scientists believe that when there's friction⁸ between two plates below the ocean's surface, like in an earthquake, energy is released. That energy shoots up to the surface, spreads out in a wave. And it travels very fast, as fast as 500 miles per hour! You can see it spreading right here.

Now, if you're in a boat out at sea, you might not even feel it. It's incredibly powerful, but not necessarily very high. But look at what happens when that wave gets closer to shore: it slows down and builds up. And that wall of water just bulldozes inland. Look at how this tsunami wave spread. This animation⁹ shows you just how far these things can travel. It stretched out in all directions, spanning the Pacific Ocean. It hit Hawaii, causing millions of dollars in damage there. And it even reached the California coast, 5,000 miles from the area near Japan where the quake hit. And when the wave did reach Santa Cruz, California, it was still strong enough to do this: boats tossed like toys in the tub. It's not nearly as destructive as what happened in Japan, but a clear illustration of ocean energy radiated across the world.

Trying to put the impact of this earthquake in perspective. Japan's prime minister, Naoto Kan, called it "the toughest and most difficult crisis" for his country since the end of World War II, more than 65 years ago. He said he's confident that the Japanese people can work together to overcome the crisis. That could include making sacrifices, like dealing¹⁰ with electrical blackouts for one thing. The government is planning to run these rolling blackouts in order to save electricity while workers repair power plants. But Prime Minister Kan says right now, Japan has one main goal.

1 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

2 rattled   

慌乱的，恼火的

参考例句：

• The truck jolted and rattled over the rough ground. 卡车嘎吱嘎吱地在凹凸不平的地面上颠簸而行。
• Every time a bus went past, the windows rattled. 每逢公共汽车经过这里，窗户都格格作响。

3 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。

4 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。

5 tsunamis   

n.海啸( tsunami的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Our oceans are alive with earthquakes, volcanoes, and more recently, tsunamis. 海中充满着地震、火山，包括最近发生的海啸。 来自常春藤生活英语杂志-2006年2月号
• Please tell me something more about tsunamis! 请您给我讲讲海啸吧！ 来自辞典例句

6 accurately   

adv.准确地，精确地

参考例句：

• It is hard to hit the ball accurately.准确地击中球很难。
• Now scientists can forecast the weather accurately.现在科学家们能准确地预报天气。

7 plow   

n.犁，耕地，犁过的地；v.犁，费力地前进[英]plough

参考例句：

• At this time of the year farmers plow their fields.每年这个时候农民们都在耕地。
• We will plow the field soon after the last frost.最后一场霜过后，我们将马上耕田。

8 friction   

n.摩擦，摩擦力

参考例句：

• When Joan returned to work,the friction between them increased.琼回来工作后，他们之间的摩擦加剧了。
• Friction acts on moving bodies and brings them to a stop.摩擦力作用于运动着的物体，并使其停止。

9 animation   

n.活泼，兴奋，卡通片／动画片的制作

参考例句：

• They are full of animation as they talked about their childhood.当他们谈及童年的往事时都非常兴奋。
• The animation of China made a great progress.中国的卡通片制作取得很大发展。

10 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。