欧美人文风情第157篇:海啸的痛

 All across northern Japan, they felt it—a violent, magnitude 9.0 earthquake on March 11, 2011. 整个北日本地区，他们感受到它－－2011 年 3 月 11 日一阵剧烈、震度 9.0 的地震。

It was centered about 80 miles offshore¹, and tsunami² warnings went up immediately. 震央在近海约 80 里 (约 129 公里) 处，海啸警报立刻发布。

In coastal³ cities, people knew what to do next: run to higher ground. 在沿海城市，人们知道接下来要做什么：逃到高处。

It's from these vantage points on hills and in tall buildings that incredible footage was captured. 正是从小山上和高耸建物中的这些有利位置，惊人的影片被拍下。

In Kesennuma, people retreated to a high-rise rooftop and could only watch in horror as tsunami waves inundated⁴ their city, 在气仙沼市，人们退到高楼屋顶上，但在海啸浪潮淹没他们的城市时只能惊恐地看着，

knocking buildings into rubble⁵ and mixing into a kind of tsunami soup filled with vehicles, building parts, and contents. 海啸将房屋击碎成瓦砾堆，搅拌成一种混着汽车、房屋零件和内容物的海啸汤。

Seawater cascaded⁶ over seawalls and into cities. 海水滚滚越过防波堤然后进入城市。

This video shows the water rushing over an 18-foot seawall in the Kamaishi city. 这个影片播放出海水冲过一面在釜石市 18 英尺高 (约 5.5 公尺) 的防波堤。

The seawall here was the world's deepest and largest, but not enough for the magnitude of the March 11 disaster. 这里的防波堤是世界上最深最大的，但不足以应付 3 月 11 号那灾难的强度。

It was the largest quake ever known in Japan, and one of the five largest recorded in the world. 这是日本有史以来所知最大的地震，也是全世界记录五个最大的地震之一。

More than 28,000 people are confirmed dead or missing. 超过两万八千人被确认死亡或失踪。

When two tectonic plates push together under the sea, the resulting earthquake sends an enormous burst of energy up through the ocean, 当两个板块在海底推挤在一起时，产生的地震将一个巨大的能量爆发向上穿透海洋传送出去，

displacing enormous quantities of water. 排出大量的水。

With the upward motion, a series of waves expands in all directions. 随着那向上的移动，一连串的海浪向四面八方扩散。

In deep water, these waves travel fast—up to 500 miles an hour—but only reach a height of a few feet. 在深海域，这些海浪移动得很快－－高达时速 500 英里 ( 约 805 公里)－－但只达到几英尺的高度。

A passing ship might not even notice. 一艘经过的船可能甚至不会注意到。

But as the waves enter shallow waters, friction⁷ with the ocean floor lowers the waves' speed, 但当海浪进入浅海域，和海床的摩擦减慢海浪速度，

but raises their height. 但提升了海浪的高度。

This video is from a Japan coast guard ship confronting a tsunami wave in shallow water on March 11. 这个影片是来自一艘 3 月 11 日在浅海域遇到一波海啸浪潮的日本海巡船。

And a rare view from the air—video of a tsunami wave approaching the shoreline. 还有一个空拍的罕见景象－－一波海啸浪潮渐渐接近海岸线的影片。

In Japan, some tsunami waves reached as far as three miles inland. 在日本，一些海啸浪潮到达内陆三英里 (约 5 公里)的距离。

Japan may be the most seismologically-studied country in the world, 日本可能是全世界地震学上最被研究的国家，

and with more than 1,200 high-precision GPS stations, 有着超过 1,200 个高度精确的 GPS 站点，

a geophysicist at the University of Alaska used the data to create a visualization⁸ of the March 11 quake. 阿拉斯加大学的一位地球物理学家利用那数据来建立出 3 月 11 日地震的想像图。

The waves of displacement⁹ that you see were moving as fast as five miles per second. 你所见板块位移产生的波动正达到每秒五英里 (约 8 公里) 的速度在移动。

In this photo, the ripples¹⁰ of tsunami waves are seen moving upstream in the Naka River at Hitachinaka City. 这张相片里，海啸波浪的涟漪在常陆那珂市的那珂川中被观察到正向上游移动。

New technology left an enormous amount of visual evidence for study in years to come, 新科技留下大量可见证据供未来的研究，

and can, perhaps, help us better understand the power of earthquakes and tsunamis¹¹, 且或许可以帮助我们更了解地震和海啸的力量，

and prevent loss of life in the future. 并在未来避免生命损失。

 

1 offshore   

adj.海面的，吹向海面的；adv.向海面

参考例句：

• A big program of oil exploration has begun offshore.一个大规模的石油勘探计划正在近海展开。
• A gentle current carried them slowly offshore.和缓的潮流慢慢地把他们带离了海岸。

2 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。

3 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

4 inundated   

v.淹没( inundate的过去式和过去分词 )；（洪水般地）涌来；充满；给予或交予（太多事物）使难以应付

参考例句：

• We have been inundated with offers of help. 主动援助多得使我们应接不暇。
• We have been inundated with every bit of information imaginable. 凡是想得到的各种各样的信息潮水般地向我们涌来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 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。

6 cascaded   

级联的

参考例句：

• His money cascaded away in a couple of years. 他的钱在三两年内便滚滚流失了。
• The water cascaded off the roof in the thunderstorm. 雷雨中水象瀑布一样从屋顶泻下。

7 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。

8 visualization   

n.想像，设想

参考例句：

• In 2D visualization and drawing applications, vertical and horizontal scrolling are common. 在二维的可视化及绘图应用中，垂直和水平滚动非常普遍。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Ophthalmoscopy affords the only opportunity for direct visualization of blood vessels. 检眼镜检查法提供直接观察血管的唯一机会。

9 displacement   

n.移置，取代，位移，排水量

参考例句：

• They said that time is the feeling of spatial displacement.他们说时间是空间位移的感觉。
• The displacement of all my energy into caring for the baby.我所有精力都放在了照顾宝宝上。

10 ripples   

逐渐扩散的感觉( ripple的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The moon danced on the ripples. 月亮在涟漪上舞动。
• The sea leaves ripples on the sand. 海水在沙滩上留下了波痕。

11 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