Strong Earthquake Rocks NE Japan

 A strong 6.4-magnitude earthquake jolted¹ northeastern Japan early Sunday in the same region that was devastated² by a massive 9.0 earthquake and ensuing tsunami³ earlier this year.

The U.S. Geological Survey says the quake was centered in the Pacific Ocean near the east coast of Japan's Honshu island, 185 kilometers northeast of Tokyo, at a depth of 43 kilometers.　　

Seven people in nearby cities were slightly injured.  No tsunami warning was issued.

Tokyo Electric Power Company, the operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant crippled by the March 11 quake and tsunami, said the latest earthquake did not cause any new damage to the plant.

More than 20,000 people were killed or left missing after the March twin disaster.  Another 80,000 have been forced to evacuate⁴ their homes because of the radiation threat from the nuclear plant.

1 jolted   

（使）摇动， （使）震惊( jolt的过去式和过去分词 )

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。
• She was jolted out of her reverie as the door opened. 门一开就把她从幻想中惊醒。

2 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

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 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。